We have developed a compact and lightweight microfluidic cooling device to reversibly deactivate one or more areas of the neocortex to examine its functional macrocircuitry as well as behavioral and cortical plasticity. The device, which we term the "cooling chip," consists of thin silicone tubing (through which chilled ethanol is circulated) embedded in mechanically compliant polydimethylsilox...

HEAVY silicone oils have shown promising results in the treatment of retinal detachments in the inferior quadrant in several studies. However, their use remains controversial, attendees at a symposium at the 7th EURETINA Congress heard. Proponents of silicone oil say that the specific gravity of these compounds makes them more efficient than conventional silicone oils in providing inferior tamp...

Microfluidics is an engineering tool used to control and manipulate fluid flows, with practical applications for lab-on-a-chip, point-of-care testing, and biological/medical research. However, microfluidic platforms typically lack the ability to create a fluidic duct, having an arbitrary flow path, and to change the path as needed without additional design and fabrication processes. To address ...

Escherichia coli (E. coli) and other bacteria are propelled through water by several helical flagella, which are rotated by motors embedded at random points on the cell wall. Depending on the handedness and rotation sense, the motion of the flagella induces a flow field that causes them to wrap around each other and form a bundle. Our objective is to understand and model the mechanics of this p...

Sickle red blood cells (RBC) become dehydrated as a consequence of potassium loss. This process depends at least partly on deoxygenation and may be influenced by the presence of oxygenation/deoxygenation cycles and the frequency of cycling. In this study, sickle RBC were subjected to approximately 180 oxygenation/deoxygenation cycles during 4 hours to evaluate RBC dehydration with cycle periods...

BACKGROUND While the appearance of red clots in the dialyzer is a common phenomenon in every hemodialysis unit, the occurrence of white thrombi in the tubing is relatively rare. CASE PRESENTATION We describe an adolescent male with recurrent white thrombi formation in the hemodialysis tubing. This patient had chronic renal failure from focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, but was no longer nep...

Silicone breast prostheses have been widely used for several decades. Until recently, about 150 000 women received these implants annually in the United States—80% for breast augmentation and the others almost exclusively for reconstruction after cancer surgery. There is little doubt about the beneficial psychological eVects of breast implants, but there is increasing awareness of alleged adver...

A quat-silicone micro-emulsion (particle size <40 nm), an amino-silicone macro-emulsion (110 nm), and an alkyl modified silicone macro-emulsion (740 nm) were used to modify Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sapwood. Treated and uncoated boards were exposed to natural weathering for one year along with water treated controls according to EN 927-3. The treatment with silicone emulsions did not enh...

Reworking electronic packages is an integral process related to diagnostics and salvaging valuable materials. It is a meticulous and time-consuming procedure that requires some knowledge of the package material composition to determine compatible cleaning solutions and processes. Silicone adhesives are being used more frequently due to their ability to minimize shear stress during temperature c...

We have developed an algorithm based on optical flow for the extraction of flow waveforms from dynamic digital x-ray images. The aim of this study was to extend the validation of this technique to blood flow measurement in moving vessels. A pulsatile blood flow circuit was constructed to simulate the human arterial circulation using a length of silicone tubing as a model artery. A computer-prog...