Treatment of a Large Defect Induced by Atrophic Nonunion of Femoral Fracture in a Dog with Autogenous Coccygeal Bone Grafting.

An 11-month-old castrated male Pomeranian presented with nonunion following a femoral fracture that occurred after femoral head and neck osteotomy. Radiography and computed tomography revealed severe atrophy of the proximal bone fragment and retardation of the ipsilateral distal fragment and tibia. An autogenous bone graft using coccygeal bone was performed, in which three and a half coccyges were placed in succession and fixed using an orthogonal locking plate. To promote bone healing and facilitate proper weight bearing and ambulation, bone morphogenetic proteins, biphasic calcium phosphate, platelet-rich plasma, passive-range-of-motion exercises, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and low-level laser therapy were applied. During the four-year follow-up, it was observed that the previously engrafted bone healed well and maintained stability over a prolonged period, resulting in the patient being able to walk comfortably with good outcomes. However, some degree of lameness was noted in the dog when running owing to limb shortening and joint contracture.

Hemispherical acoustic Luneburg lens with the acoustic Goos-Hänchen shift and Fresnel filtering effect.

A two-dimensional (2D) slice of a 3D hemispherical acoustic Luneburg lens using a quasi-conformal transformation and face-centred-orifice-cubic (FCOC) unit cells is designed and fabricated. With the system, the focusing characteristics of acoustic waves with frequencies that satisfy the homogeneous medium condition of the metamaterial are observed, such as focusing of acoustic plane waves at the antipodal point on the transformed surface of the opposite side for the incident direction and focus spreading due to total internal reflection at the focus point. The attenuation losses of the system are measured and compared with those of an untransformed system with respect to frequency. The value of the acoustic Goos-Hänchen shift is determined by comparing the experimental and theoretical and simulated values of the focus points with respect to the incident angle. The effect of acoustic Fresnel filtering due to the angular distribution of the incident waves at the flat surface boundary is verified by comparing the results of the experiment and a simulation.

High sensitivity free-space resonant polarization Sagnac interferometer.

A new, to the best of our knowledge, free-space resonant Sagnac interferometer scheme is proposed. This scheme uses right-hand and left-hand circular polarization as normal modes running in clockwise and counterclockwise directions in the resonator, respectively. Details about the theoretical analysis on the proposed interferometer scheme and experimental results on feasibility studies are given. Application of this scheme to the rotation sensor is discussed.

Balanced-path homodyne I/Q-interferometer scheme with very simple optical arrangement using a polarizing beam displacer.

A new balanced-path homodyne I/Q-interferometer scheme using a specially designed polarizing beam displacer (PBD) is described. The PBD is designed for splitting the s- and p-polarization components of the input beam into two parallel output beams which can be used as two beams of a balanced-path interferometer. The interferometer has a very simple optical arrangement because all of seven optical components used for interfacing two arms of the interferometer into the I/Q-demodulator in the previous schemes are replaced by the single PBD. A simple optical arrangement makes the interferometer less susceptible to environmental perturbations. It will be shown that the RMS fluctuations during a long-term phase noise measurement for 24 hours is ~7 × 10-5 rad. in an open lab environment. In addition, the separation between two arms of the interferometer is adjustable which makes the interferometer very flexible for many sensor applications. Potential use of our new interferometer as an interferometric sensor will be demonstrated by employing a displacement sensor arrangement.

High-precision tilt sensor using a folded Mach-Zehnder geometry in-phase and quadrature interferometer.

A new high-sensitivity homodyne in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) -interferometer scheme for measuring the tilt change of a target is presented. The new tilt sensor is a Mach-Zehnder interferometer folded by the target, in which the phase change is induced by the in-plane tilt change of the target but is not sensitive to any other motions. The interferometer is specially designed to minimize interferences caused by environmental perturbations. The induced phase is directly measured by using the I/Q-demodulation scheme. The tilt sensor exhibits an excellent sensitivity 10 prad/Hz1/2 at a frequency slightly above 1 Hz and a 0.4 prad/Hz1/2 at a frequency higher than 30 Hz.

Risk factors for small bowel bleeding in chronic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug users.

OBJECTIVE: The incidence of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)-induced enteropathy is currently increasing. However, the predictors of small bowel bleeding (SBB) associated with NSAIDs are unknown. This study aimed to assess the risk factors of SBB in chronic NSAIDs users. METHODS: We retrospectively compared the medical records of 147 patients receiving NSAIDs in a tertiary-care setting (31 with SBB and 116 without previous bleeding events) and analyzed the predictors of SBB. RESULTS: In total, 31 patients underwent video capsule endoscopy to detect SBB, 74.2% of whom showed the evidence of SBB. Non-invasive treatment was performed in 90.3% of the patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of coronary artery disease [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 12.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19-130.34, P = 0.04], use of thienopyridine (aOR 16.93, 95% CI 3.78-75.72, P < 0.001) and prior use of rebamipide (aOR 0.31, 95% CI 0.12-0.82, P = 0.02) were independently associated with SBB in NSAIDs users. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary artery disease and co-use of thienopyridine were associated with SBB in NSAIDs users. The patients with coronary artery disease co-using thienopyridine need to be monitored for the occurrence of SBB when they were prescribed with NSAIDs.

Long-range vibration detection system using heterodyne interferometry.

We present the design and performance of an extremely sensitive coherent remote vibration detection system using optical heterodyne vibration of phase shifts produced by laser light scattered off a remote target. The resulting phase-modulated intermediate RF of 200 MHz, which carries the vibrational motion of the target, is demodulated down to baseband using an RF in-phase and quadrature demodulator. Acquisition and calculation of the target phase angle is carried out on a custom-made control board which utilizes high-resolution A/D converters, variable gain amplifiers, and a Spartan-6 field programmable gate array.

Scanning balanced-path homodyne I/Q-interferometer scheme and its applications.

The balanced-path scheme of a heterodyne interferometer proposed by Yoon et al. has been applied to the scanning homodyne I/Q-interferometer. This provides an 11-dB improvement on common vibration rejection over the heterodyne scheme and, thereby, allows high sensitivity and high stability phase and amplitude measurements for high-speed scanning interferometer applications. It is shown that our new scanning interferometer scheme is very useful for diagnosing a sample that requires complex analysis. As an example, our new scanning interferometer scheme has been applied for obtaining phase and amplitude images of the protein biochip samples prepared by using the sandwich ELISA. The amplitude images are used for diagnosing homogeneity of the sample, while the phase images are used for measuring the phase difference between samples treated with different concentrations of IL-5.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis due to rhus ingestion presenting with gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Rhus-related illnesses in Korea are mostly caused by ingestion of parts of the Rhus tree. Contact dermatitis occurrence after ingestion of Rhus-related food is very common in Korea. However, Rhus-related gastrointestinal disease is very rare. Herein, we present a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis caused by Rhus ingestion. A 75-year-old woman was admitted with hematemesis and hematochezia after Rhus extract ingestion. Routine laboratory tests revealed leukocytosis without eosinophilia. Endoscopy showed friable and granular mucosal changes with touch bleeding in the second portion of the duodenum. Abdominal computed tomography revealed edematous wall thickening of the duodenum and proximal jejunal loops. Patch testing with Rhus extracts showed a strong positive reaction, suggesting Rhus as the allergen. Her symptoms improved after avoidance of the allergen.

A new balanced-path heterodyne I/Q-interferometer scheme for low environmental noise, high sensitivity phase measurements for both reflection and transmission geometry.

A new heterodyne interferometer scheme which has open accesses to both the geometrically balanced probe beam (PB) and reference beam (RB) paths, for which, depending on the nature of a specific sensing mechanism, a transmission geometry or a reflection geometry can be employed, is presented. We will show that, because of a small separation between the short length PB and RB running parallel to each other our newly proposed optical arrangement allows high rejection of unlocalized environmental perturbations. In fact, the geometrically balanced optical arrangement provides 19 dB rejection of any vibrations parallel to the direction of beam propagation, which cannot be achieved in a conventional interferometer scheme. Applications of this new interferometer scheme are discussed. As an example, we will show that our newly proposed interferometer scheme can be applied for high sensitivity measurements of concentration dependent refractive indexes in various solutions.

An efficient ray tracing algorithm for the simulation of light trapping effects in Si solar cells with textured surfaces.

Optimizing the design of the surface texture is an essential aspect of Si solar cell technology as it can maximize the light trapping efficiency of the cells. The proper simulation tools can provide efficient means of designing and analyzing the effects of the texture patterns on light confinement in an active medium. In this work, a newly devised algorithm termed Slab-Outline, based on a ray tracing technique, is reported. The details of the intersection searching logic adopted in Slab-Outline algorithm are also discussed. The efficiency of the logic was tested by comparing the computing time between the current algorithm and the Constructive Solid Geometry algorithm, and its superiority in computing speed was proved. The validity of the new algorithm was verified by comparing the simulated reflectance spectra with the measured spectra from a textured Si surface.

Wide measurement range scanning heterodyne interferometer utilizing astigmatic position sensing scheme.

A scanning heterodyne I/Q-interferometer scheme is proposed to overcome phase ambiguity caused by the periodic nature of its phase-dependent signal. A position sensing scheme using an astigmatic method in the confocal arrangement has been interfaced to the interferometer to retrieve the real phase value during a scanning process. The experimental results show that the vertical measurement range can be expanded up to 16 µm. The potential of this interferometer on the scanning microscopy of a rough surface is discussed.

Heterodyne interferometer scheme using a double pass in an acousto-optic modulator.

We introduce a heterodyne interferometer scheme utilizing the double-pass arrangement of the deflected beams of an acousto-optic modulator. To prove our new idea, the interferometer has been applied for measuring small amplitude vibrations. The output intermediate frequency signal from the interferometer is processed by using an I/Q demodulator. In theory, it can provide the quantum noise limited sensitivity, whereas, in our present Letter, the sensitivity of the phase measurement is limited by the resolution of the 16 bit A/D converter used for processing the I/Q signals. Details of our interferometer scheme are discussed.

A new scanning heterodyne interferometer scheme for mapping both surface structure and effective local reflection coefficient.

A new scanning microscope scheme which can map both phase and amplitude change of the probe beam is introduced. We will show that the true surface structure can be imaged by using the results of phase measurements while the amplitude image represents the map of the magnitude of the effective local reflection coefficient (ELRC). Relation between the surface structure and the ELRC is discussed. Spatial resolution is 0.67 microm which is limited by diffraction and the precision for measuring point-to-point variation of the average height of the surface structure is a few nanometers. Potential of this microscopy on surface diagnostics is discussed.

Toward understanding the mechanism of nonlinear optical characteristics of PbTe thin film for nano-optical memory.

An experimental study is conducted toward understanding the mechanism of nonlinear optical properties of PbTe thin film that were demonstrated potentially usable for nano-optical memory based on super-resolution technology. By way of a real time optical-electrical characterization of a PbTe thin film device, it is found that absorption coefficient decreases with increasing laser power, accompanied by increase in carrier concentration. From z-scan measurements, nonlinear optical coefficient due to a long pulse (1 micros) z-scan is found nearly 3 order of magnitude higher than the one due to a short pulse (30 ps) z-scan when input energy density is relatively comparable. Conceivably, these experimental findings call for a physical model that is able to account for the prevailing role of a thermal contribution within the framework of absorption saturation by band filling. We speculate that the absorption saturation might be enhanced dramatically by making various indirect interband transitions possible via participation of phonons in a photonic excitation process.

Enhancement of shear-force sensitivity using asymmetric response of tuning forks for near-field scanning optical microscopy.

Resonance characteristics of a tuning fork are investigated to enhance the shear-force detection sensitivity for near-field scanning optical microscopy. In particular, we show that the asymmetric frequency response of a tuning fork can be utilized to increase quality factors and suppress the background feedback signal. The pinning down effect on one side of the main peak can readily elevate vertical sensitivity and stability. A simplified model based on a coupled harmonic oscillator is presented to describe the asymmetric resonance behavior of the tuning fork. We also show improved topographic images of a blue-ray disc and optical images of a chromium pattern on the quartz using the asymmetric resonance.