PURPOSE The properties, performance, and applications of nonelectric disposable infusion pumps are reviewed. SUMMARY All nonelectric disposable infusion pumps exploit the same physical principle: mechanical restriction within the flow path determines the speed of pressurized fluid. The pressure generated by disposable pumps on fluid is 250-600 mm Hg, compared with 5-1200 mm Hg of pressure for...

BACKGROUND Many gastroenterologists believe that disposable forceps are more expensive than reusable forceps. It has been shown, however, that cross contamination and spread of infection are possible with reusable forceps. We conducted a prospective, randomized study to evaluate the performance, safety and cost of reusable versus disposable biopsy forceps. METHODS Endoscopists were randomly a...

Dental structures capture, retain and fragment food for ingestion. Gnathostome dentition should be viewed in the context of the prey's material properties. Animal muscle and skin are mechanically tough materials that resist fragmentation unless energy is continually supplied directly to the tip of the fracture by some device such as a blade edge. Despite the variety of bladed tooth morphologies...

Introduction of embedded computer control in construction equipment paves the way for implementation of enhancements to improve overall productivity and competitiveness of machines. One of these features is the capability for automated or autonomous machine operation. This research present a memory efficient real-time motion planning algorithm for the blade linkage mechanism of a motor grader. ...

Fixation with a dynamic hip screw (DHS) is one of the most common methods for stabilizing intertrochanteric fractures, except for unstable and reverse oblique fracture types. However, failure is often observed in osteoporotic patients whereby the lag screw effectively 'cuts out' through the weak bone. Novel anti-migration blades have been developed to be used in combination with a lag screw ('B...

To clarify the behavior of the blade tip vortices of a wind turbine equipped with a brimmed-diffuser shroud, called a “Wind-Lens turbine”, we conducted a three-dimensional numerical simulation using a large eddy simulation (LES). Since this unique wind turbine consists of not only rotating blades but also a diffuser shroud with a broad-ring brim at the exit periphery, the flow field around the ...

Pencil traces drawn on print papers are shown to function as strain gauges and chemiresistors. Regular graphite/clay pencils can leave traces composed of percolated networks of fine graphite powders, which exhibit reversible resistance changes upon compressive or tensile deflections. Flexible toy pencils can leave traces that are essentially thin films of graphite/polymer composites, which show...

Instrumental evaluations (e.g. Dobrzynski, InterNoise 90) showed that propeller noise can be reduced by asymmetrical blade spacing. Compared to conventional propellers with 6 blades and symmetrical spacing of 60°, propellers with asymmetric spacing of 15° produce about 3 dB(A) less level, in particular for high helical blade tip Mach numbers HBTMN. Since the aerodynamic propeller performance is...

The Savonius wind turbine is a type of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWTs) that is simply composed of two or three arc-type blades which can generate power even under poor wind conditions. A modified Savonius wind turbine with novel blade shapes is introduced with the aim of increasing the power coefficient of the turbine. The effect of blade fullness, which is a main shape parameter of the blad...

Currently the lifespan of rotor blades is determined based on a conservative lifetime calculation. This leads to blades being discarded while they still possess a significant residual amount of flight-hours. Blade health monitoring systems are desired to actively track the strains in the blade thereby drastically extending the technical life expectancy. A major drawback is in the need for an el...