PURPOSE This study is a cross-sectional analysis of the types and prevalence of contact lens (CL)-related complications among CL wearing patients seen in a university clinic setting. METHODS Data on CL material and design, care system, and ocular complications were recorded and statistically analyzed for CL wearers. RESULTS Of the 572 patients (846 eyes) recruited during the study, approxim...

OBJECTIVE To study the clinical and microbiological characteristics of pediatric microbial keratitis in Taiwan. METHODS The medical records of 81 eyes with microbial keratitis in 78 children aged 16 years or younger who were diagnosed and treated at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, from July 1, 1998, through December 31, 2002, were retrospectively reviewed. Predisposing factors, ...

A sensitive fluorometric assay for measuring permeability of liposomes containing bovine lens MIP26 has been developed and characterized. Lens membrane proteins were isolated and incorporated into artificial membranes composed of bovine brain phospholipids, sphingomyelin and the fluorescent probe, N-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3 diazole phosphatidylethanolamine (NBD-PE). Quenching of the probe with co...

In the 1980s and 1990s, the development of oxygen ion conductors for solid electrolytes, as well as mixed oxygen–electron conductors as electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells, brought scientists to envision a possibility of mixed-conducting oxygenpermeable ceramic membranes. Today this field is well established, and ceramic membranes are close to implementation in processes for oxygen extraction...

Providing improved health care for wound, burn and surgical patients is a major goal for enhancing patient well-being, in addition to reducing the high cost of current health care treatment. The introduction of new and novel biomaterials and biomedical devices is anticipated to have a profound effect on the future improvement of many deleterious health issues. This publication will discuss the ...

Gas and vapor transport properties were studied in mixed matrix membranes containing elastomeric ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC or poly(ethylene-co-octene)) with three types of carbon fillers: virgin or oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon fibers (CFs). Helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, methane, and carbon dioxide were used for gas permeation rate measurements. Vapor trans...

Prolonged anoxia has deleterious effects on islets. Gas-permeable cell culture devices can be used to minimize anoxia during islet culture and especially during shipment when elimination of gas-liquid interfaces is required to prevent the formation of damaging gas bubbles. Gas-permeable bags may have several drawbacks, such as propensity for puncture and contamination, difficult islet retrieval...

Graphene membranes have the potential to exceed the permeance and selectivity limits of conventional gas separation membranes. Realizing this potential in practical systems relies on overcoming numerous scalability challenges, such as isolating or sealing permeable defects in macroscopic areas of graphene that can compromise performance and developing methods to create high densities of selecti...

A highly gas permeable polymer with exceptional size selectivity is prepared by fusing triptycene units together via a poly-merization reaction involving Tröger's base formation. The extreme rigidity of this polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-Trip-TB) facilitates gas permeability data that lie well above the benchmark 2008 Robeson upper bounds for the important O2 /N2 and H2 /N2 gas pairs.