Wendy F. Li¹, Heidi Pollard², Mohsen Karimi³, Jeremy D. Asnes¹, William E. Hellenbrand¹, Veronika Shabanova⁴, Constance G. Weismann^1,5

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.1, pp. 140-146, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12544

Abstract Objective: Trans-catheter (TC) pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) has become common practice for patients with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (RVOTO) and/or pulmonic insufficiency (PI). Our aim was to compare PVR and right ventricular (RV) function of patients who received TC vs surgical PVR.
Design: Retrospective review of echocardiograms obtained at three time points: before, immediately after PVR, and most recent.
Patients: Sixty-two patients (median age 19 years, median follow-up 25 months) following TC (N = 32) or surgical (N = 30) PVR at Yale-New Haven Hospital were included.
Outcome Measures: Pulmonary valve and right ventricular function before, immediately after,… More >

Claude Prost, Bruno Abdelnour

Sound & Vibration, Vol.52, No.2, pp. 7-10, 2018, DOI:10.32604/sv.2018.03641

Abstract Wire Rope Isolators (WRI) are well known and used for the protection of sensitive equipment against non-contact underwater explosions (UNDEX) on board Naval Ships, amongst others, which are extremely destructive and can comple`tely impair the ship’s combat capability.
Traditional WRI exhibit a number of definite advantages, such as large deflection capability, modularity and insensitivity to aggressive environment when proper materials are used. However, their inherent nonlinearity does not always provide the best solution in terms of shock attenuation. (Stiffening tension characteristics)
Fortunately, there are ways to overcome this problem, namely increasing their damping and/ or changing… More >

Sofía Collazo-Bigliardi^1,*, Rodrigo Ortega-Toro², Amparo Chiralt Boix¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.6, pp. 599-610, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00127

Abstract Cellulosic fibres from coffee (CF) and rice (RF) husks have been obtained applying chemical treatments and characterized as to their microstructure and thermal behaviour. These materials have been incorporated into glycerol plasticised thermoplastic starch (TPS) films obtained by melt blending and compression moulding at 1 wt%, 5 wt% and 10 wt%. Microstructure, thermal behaviour and optical, tensile and barrier properties of the composites were analysed. Both kinds of micro-fibres improve the film stiffness while reduced the film stretchability. However, CF better maintained the film ductility at 1 and 5 wt%. A network of fine oriented More >

Zaitie Chen^1,*, Wei Wang², Dayang Li³

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 19-33, 2018, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2018.012.019

Abstract The distribution of many active faults in western China is an important reason for the frequent earthquakes. With the rapid development of the western region, many major projects have been built there and the existence of active faults is bound to have an influence on the safety of the engineering structure. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the mechanism of fault slip instability for evaluating the geological stability of the region and for the site selection of major projects. In this paper, cusp catastrophe theory is used to establish a cusp catastrophe model… More >

Zhedian Zhou¹, Tal Geva², Rahul H. Rathod², Alexander Tang², Chun Yang³, Kristen L. Billiar⁴, Dalin Tang^1,*,3, Pedro del Nido⁵

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 99-115, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.00558

Abstract Patients with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), a congenital heart defect which includes a ventricular septal defect and severe right ventricular outflow obstruction, account for the majority of cases with late onset right ventricle (RV) failure. The current surgical approach, which includes pulmonary valve replacement/insertion (PVR), has yielded mixed results. A computational parametric study using 7 patient-specific RV/LV models based on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) data as "virtual surgery" was performed to investigate the impact of patch size, RV remodeling and tissue regeneration in PVR surgery design on RV cardiac functions. Two patch sizes, three… More >

M. Dandani^1,*, V. Lepiller², A. Ghezal³, P. Desevaux⁴

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.14, No.1, pp. 23-37, 2018, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2018.014.023

Abstract The present study deals with the numerical visualization of the mixing process in a 2D supersonic ejector. The mixing process is visualized using two CFD flow visualization methods. The first method consists in introducing discrete particles in the secondary flow and computing their trajectories. The second method consists in modeling the diffusion of a passive scalar introduced in one of the two flows. The mixing process is investigated in the case of a conventional 2D supersonic ejector and a second case of an ejector equipped with transverse micro jets. Flow visualizations obtained show the existence More >

Shuai Zhou^3,4, Xiaoying Zhuang^1,2,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.57, No.3, pp. 417-446, 2018, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2018.01742

Abstract The microcapsule-enabled cementitious material is an appealing building material and it has been attracting increasing research interest. By considering microcapsules as dissimilar inclusions in the material, this paper employs the discrete element method (DEM) to study the effects of loading rates on the fracturing behavior of cementitious specimens containing the inclusion and the crack. The numerical model was first developed and validated based on experimental results. It is then used to systematically study the initiation, the propagation and the coalescence of cracks in inclusion-enabled cementitious materials. The study reveals that the crack propagation speed, the More >

Zenon Pogorelić^1,2, Tomislava Brković², Dražen Budimir¹, Jakov Todorić¹, Đurđica Košuljandić³, Ana Jerončić⁴, Mihovil Biočić¹, Marijan Saraga^2,3

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.24, No.3, pp. 8853-8858, 2017

Abstract Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and potential complications of double-J ureteric stents in the treatment of primary hydronephrosis in pediatric patients.
Materials and methods: A retrospective case-records review of 133 patients (45 girls and 88 boys) treated because of primary hydronephrosis with double-J ureteric stents, in Department of Pediatric Surgery, Split University Hospital, between December 1997 and December 2014, was performed. Success of treatment, results of follow up investigations and complications were recorded. Patients were followed up clinically and radiologically for a minimum of 2 years following stent insertion.
Results: In all, 133… More >

Richard J. Dobson¹, Ify Mordi², Mark H. Danton¹, Niki L. Walker¹, Hamish A. Walker¹, Nikolaos Tzemos²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 58-66, 2017

Abstract Objective: Myocardial fibrosis has been associated with poorer outcomes in tetralogy of Fallot, however only a handful of studies have assessed its significance in the current era. Our aim was to quantify the amount of late gadolinium enhancement in both the LV and RV in a contemporary cohort of adults with surgically repaired tetralogy of Fallot, and assess the relationship with adverse clinical outcomes.
Design: Single centre cohort study
Setting: National tertiary referral center
Patients: One hundred fourteen patients with surgically repaired tetralogy of Fallot with median age 29.5 years (range 17.5-64.2). Prospective follow-up for mean 2.4 years (SD… More >

Alexander C. Egbe^*, Heidi M. Connolly^*, Joseph T. Poterucha^*,†, Carole A. Warnes^*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 24-31, 2017

Abstract Objectives. There is a paucity of data about mixed aortic valve disease (MAVD) in patients with bicuspid/unicuspid aortic valve (BAV). This study sought to describe the outcomes of patients with moderate/severe MAVD.
Methods. We queried our database for patients with BAV and moderate/severe MAVD seen between 1994 and 2013. We excluded patients with baseline New York Heart Association (NYHA) III/IV symptoms, left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, aortic dimension >50 mm, and significant disease of other valves. The purpose of the study was to determine the freedom from NYHA III/IV symptoms and aortic valve replacement (AVR).
Results. We identified… More >