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Sample records for abdominis plane block

  1. Subcostal Transverse Abdominis Plane Block for Acute Pain Management: A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soliz, Jose M; Lipski, Ian; Hancher-Hodges, Shannon; Speer, Barbra Bryce; Popat, Keyuri

    2017-10-01

    The subcostal transverse abdominis plane (SCTAP) block is the deposition of local anesthetic in the transverse abdominis plane inferior and parallel to the costal margin. There is a growing consensus that the SCTAP block provides better analgesia for upper abdominal incisions than the traditional transverse abdominis plane block. In addition, when used as part of a four-quadrant transverse abdominis plane block, the SCTAP block may provide adequate analgesia for major abdominal surgery. The purpose of this review is to discuss the SCTAP block, including its indications, technique, local anesthetic solutions, and outcomes.

  2. Transversus abdominis plane block: a cadaveric and radiological evaluation.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McDonnell, John G

    2011-04-11

    The abdominal wall is a significant source of pain after abdominal surgery. Anterior abdominal wall analgesia may assist in improving postoperative analgesia. We have recently described a novel approach to block the abdominal wall neural afferents via the bilateral lumbar triangles of Petit, which we have termed a transversus abdominis plane block. The clinical efficacy of the transversus abdominis plane block has recently been demonstrated in a randomized controlled clinical trial of adults undergoing abdominal surgery.

  3. Subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can improve analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir Vrsajkov

    Full Text Available Abstract Background and goal of study: After laparoscopic cholecystectomy, patients have moderate pain in the early postoperative period. Some studies shown beneficial effects of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block on reducing this pain. Our goal was to investigate influence of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block on postoperative pain scores and opioid consumption. Materials and methods: We have randomized 76 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy to receive either subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (n = 38 or standard postoperative analgesia (n = 38. First group received bilateral ultrasound guided subcostal transversus abdominis plane block with 20 mL of 0.33% bupivacaine per side before operation and tramadol 1 mg.kg−1 IV for pain breakthrough (≥6. Second group received after operation tramadol 1 mg.kg−1/6 h as standard hospital analgesia protocol. Both groups received acetaminophen 1 g/8 h IV and metamizole 2.5 g/12 h. Pain at rest was recorded for each patient using NR scale (0–10 in period of 10 min, 30 min, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 16 h after the surgery. Results and discussion: We obtained no difference between groups according age, weight, intraoperative fentanyl consumption and duration of surgery. Subcostal transversus abdominis plane block significantly reduced postoperative pain scores compared to standard analgesia in all periods after surgery. Tramadol consumption was significantly lower in the subcostal transversus abdominis plane (24.29 ± 47.54 g than in the standard analgesia group (270.2 ± 81.9 g (p = 0.000. Conclusion: Our results show that subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can provide superior postoperative analgesia and reduction in opioid requirements after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

  4. [Subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can improve analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vrsajkov, Vladimir; Mančić, Nedjica; Mihajlović, Dunja; Milićević, Suzana Tonković; Uvelin, Arsen; Vrsajkov, Jelena Pantić

    After laparoscopic cholecystectomy, patients have moderate pain in the early postoperative period. Some studies shown beneficial effects of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block on reducing this pain. Our goal was to investigate influence of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block on postoperative pain scores and opioid consumption. We have randomized 76 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy to receive either subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (n=38) or standard postoperative analgesia (n=38). First group received bilateral ultrasound guided subcostal transversus abdominis plane block with 20mL of 0.33% bupivacaine per side before operation and tramadol 1mg.kg -1 IV for pain breakthrough (≥6). Second group received after operation tramadol 1mg.kg -1 /6h as standard hospital analgesia protocol. Both groups received acetaminophen 1g/8h IV and metamizole 2.5g/12h. Pain at rest was recorded for each patient using NR scale (0-10) in period of 10min, 30min, 2h, 4h, 8h, 12h and 16h after the surgery. We obtained no difference between groups according age, weight, intraoperative fentanyl consumption and duration of surgery. Subcostal transversus abdominis plane block significantly reduced postoperative pain scores compared to standard analgesia in all periods after surgery. Tramadol consumption was significantly lower in the subcostal transversus abdominis plane (24.29±47.54g) than in the standard analgesia group (270.2±81.9g) (p=0.000). Our results show that subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can provide superior postoperative analgesia and reduction in opioid requirements after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  5. Quadratus Lumborum Block Versus Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Postoperative Pain After Cesarean Delivery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco, Rafael; Ansari, Tarek; Riad, Waleed; Shetty, Nanda

    Effective postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery enhances early recovery, ambulation, and breastfeeding. In a previous study, we established the effectiveness of the quadratus lumborum block in providing pain relief after cesarean delivery compared with patient-controlled analgesia (morphine). In the current study, we hypothesized that this method would be equal to or better than the transversus abdominis plane block with regard to pain relief and its duration of action after cesarean delivery. Between April 2015 and August 2015, we randomized 76 patients scheduled for elective cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia to receive the quadratus lumborum block or the transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative pain relief. This trial was registered prospectively (NCT 02489851) [corrected]. Patients in the quadratus lumborum block group used significantly less morphine than the transversus abdominis plane block group (P consumption and demands than transversus abdominis plane blocks after cesarean section. This effect was observed up to 48 hours postoperatively.

  6. Potentially toxic concentrations in blood of total ropivacaine after bilateral transversus abdominis plane blocks; a pharmacokinetic study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Torup, Henrik; Mitchell, Anja U; Breindahl, Torben

    2012-01-01

    Elevated blood levels of lidocaine and ropivacaine have been described after transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block.......Elevated blood levels of lidocaine and ropivacaine have been described after transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block....

  7. A comparison of oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block versus thoracic paravertebral block for postoperative analgesia after open cholecystectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghada Kamhawy

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: A major challenge in the postoperative period is pain management which, if not adequately controlled, may contribute to patient discomfort and decreased patient satisfaction, and possibly increased morbidity and mortality. Both Thoracic paravertebral block and oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can be used as analgesic techniques for abdominal surgeries. Our aim in this research was comparison of cumulative 24-h post-operative morphine consumption between ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block and ultrasound-guided thoracic paravertebral block in patients who underwent an open cholecystectomy under general anesthesia. Patients and methods: This study was performed on 46 patients who underwent open cholecystectomy under general anesthesia. All patients were randomly allocated alternatively to one of two equal groups to either undergo ultrasound-guided unilateral oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block Group (I or to undergo ultrasound-guided unilateral thoracic paravertebral block Group (II. Both groups were subjected to a similar analgesic regimen in the immediate post-operative period that involved intravenous patient-controlled morphine analgesia which was used in both groups. Results: The total morphine consumption in the first postoperative 24 h was lower in thoracic paravertebral block Group (II (9.9 mg in thoracic paravertebral block group vs. 15.4 mg in oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block Group (I with p < 0.001. The mean time of first request of analgesia in Group (I was 248.7 min compared to 432.1 for Group (II with p < 0.001. Conclusions: Both ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plain block and single injection ultrasound guided thoracic paravertebral block are effective analgesic techniques for upper abdominal surgeries and reduces postoperative opioid requirements. However, thoracic paravertebral block is more

  8. Four quadrant transversus abdominis plane block and continuous transversus abdominis plane analgesia: a 3-year prospective audit in 124 patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niraj, G; Kelkar, Aditi; Hart, Elaine; Kaushik, Vipul; Fleet, Danny; Jameson, John

    2015-11-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks have been reported to be an effective method of providing analgesia after abdominal surgery. To perform a prospective audit on the effectiveness of a novel technique of providing continuous transversus abdominis plane (TAP) analgesia in patients undergoing emergency and elective abdominal surgery. Prospective single center audit over a 3-year period. University hospital. One hundred twenty-four American Society of Anesthesiologists I to IV adult patients presenting for elective as well as emergency abdominal surgery in whom epidural analgesia was contraindicated or refused. Four quadrant TAP blocks and continuous TAP analgesia. Numerical rating scale pain scores at rest and on coughing, nausea scores, satisfaction scores, complications, frequency of analgesia failure, therapeutic failure with continuous TAP analgesia and opioid consumption. One hundred twenty-four patients who received continuous TAP analgesia were audited. This included 34 patients for elective open surgery, 36 patients for emergency laparotomy, and 54 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery. Surgical incision was within the dermatomal limit of the block in 70% of the patients (88/124). Therapeutic failure with the technique was 10%. Frequency of analgesic failure over the 48-hour period was none in 39% and below 5 episodes in 57%. Four quadrant transversus abdominis plane blocks and continuous TAP analgesia is an effective technique for providing postoperative analgesia after abdominal surgery. It has the potential to be used as a sole analgesic technique when the surgical incision is within its dermatomal limit. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Ultrasound-guided versus surgical transversus abdominis plane block in obese patients following cesarean section: a prospective randomised study

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    Aykut Urfalıoğlu

    Full Text Available Abstract Background and objectives Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block demonstrated efficacy in providing post-operative analgesia by prolonging the time to first analgesic requirement and reducing the total analgesic consumption. The surgical transversus abdominis plane block, a novel technique, can be performed safely in obese patients in whom muscle layers cannot be sufficiently exposed. Here, we compared applicability, efficacy and complications of surgical transversus abdominis plane and ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks in obese pregnant women following cesarean section under general anesthesia. Methods Seventy-five pregnant women with pre- and post-pregnancy body mass index > 30 were randomized and allocated into two groups: Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block (UT group; n = 38 and surgical TAP block (ST group; n = 37. Visual analogue scale scores at post-operative 0, 2, 6, 12 and 24 hours (h, time to first analgesic requirement, total analgesic consumption amount in 24 h, post-operative side effects, complications and patient satisfaction were recorded. Results and conclusions Age, American Society of Anesthesiologist score, operative duration, body mass index, mean time to first analgesic requirement and total analgesic consumption in 24 h were similar between groups, while significant differences in pre- and post-pregnancy body mass index were observed between groups. Block procedure durations were 7 and 10 minutes in ST and UT groups, respectively. No significant differences in visual analogue scale scores were observed between the groups at all times; itching and nausea was observed in one (UT group and four (UT and ST groups patients, respectively. Surgical transversus abdominis plane block was safe in obese pregnant patients and provided similar post-operative analgesia to ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block.

  10. Transient Femoral Nerve Palsy Complicating “Blind” Transversus Abdominis Plane Block

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dimitrios K. Manatakis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We present two cases of patients who reported quadriceps femoris weakness and hypoesthesia over the anterior thigh after an inguinal hernia repair under transversus abdominis plane (TAP block. Transient femoral nerve palsy is the result of local anesthetic incorrectly injected between transversus abdominis muscle and transversalis fascia and pooling around the femoral nerve. Although it is a minor and self-limiting complication, it requires overnight hospital stay and observation of the patients. Performing the block under ultrasound guidance and injecting the least volume of local anesthetic required are ways of minimizing its incidence.

  11. Comparison of extent of sensory block following posterior and subcostal approaches to ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block.

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    Lee, T H W; Barrington, M J; Tran, T M N; Wong, D; Hebbard, P D

    2010-05-01

    Transversus abdominis plane block provides postoperative analgesia following abdominal surgery by targeting thoracolumbar nerves between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles. Posterior and subcostal approaches using ultrasound guidance have been described. However there have been inconsistent results in relation to the extent of the sensory block. This observational study evaluated the distributions of sensory block following either a posterior or subcostal approach and the quality of analgesia achieved. Following ethics committee approval, 50 patients undergoing minimally invasive and major abdominal surgery were recruited. A total of 81 transversus abdominis plane blocks were performed preoperatively under real-time ultrasound guidance. Postoperatively, patients received multimodal analgesia including morphine via patient-controlled pumps. Ninety-eight percent of patients had some degree of demonstrable sensory block and the dermatomal spread differed between posterior and subcostal approaches (P interquartile range 2 to 4), the most cephalad being T10 (interquartile range T9 to T10), while the subcostal approach blocked a median of four segments (interquartile range 3 to 5), the most cephalad being T8 (interquartile range T7 to T9, P interquartile range 17 to 50 mg) at 24 hours. Median pain scores at rest and with coughing were 20 (interquartile range 10 to 35) and 50 (interquartile range 29 to 67) respectively at 24 hours. The posterior approach appears to be more appropriate for lower abdominal surgery and the subcostal approach better suited to upper abdominal surgery. Whichever approach is used, transversus abdominis plane block is only one component of a multimodal analgesic technique.

  12. The effects of transversus abdominis plane block on analgesic and anesthetic consumption during total abdominal hysterectomy: a randomized controlled study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tugba Karaman

    Full Text Available Abstract Background and objectives: A transversus abdominis plane block is a peripheral block method that has been used successfully for pain relief after total abdominal hysterectomy. However, the effects of the combination of the transversus abdominis plane block and general anesthesia on analgesic and anesthetic requirements remain unclear. This randomized placebo-controlled study is aimed to evaluate the effects of transversus abdominis plane block on analgesic and anesthetic consumption during total abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia. Methods: Sixty-six women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy were randomized into two groups to receive general anesthesia alone (control group or with transversus abdominis plane block using 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine (transversus abdominis plane group. Intraoperative remifentanil and sevoflurane consumption were recorded. We also evaluated the postoperative pain, nausea, quality of recovery scores and rescue analgesic requirement during postoperative 24 hours. Results: The total remifentanil and sevoflurane consumption is significantly lower in transversus abdominis plane group; respectively mean (SD 0.130 (0.25 vs. 0.094 (0.02 mcg.kg-1.min-1; p < 0.01 and 0.295 (0.05 vs. 0.243 (0.06 mL.min-1; p < 0.01. In the postoperative period, pain scores were significantly reduced in transversus abdominis plane group soon after surgery; median (range 6 (2-10 vs. 3 (0-5; p < 0.001, at 2 h (5 [3-9] vs. 2.5 [0-6]; p < 0.001, at 6 h (4 [2-7] vs. 3[0-6], p < 0.001, at 12 h (3.5 [1-6] vs. 2 [1-5]; p = 0.003. The patients in the transversus abdominis plane group had significantly higher QoR-40 scores 190.5 (175-197 vs. 176.5 (141-187; p < 0.001. Conclusion: Combining transversus abdominis plane block with general anesthesia can provide reduced opioid and anesthetic consumption and can improve postoperative pain and quality of recovery scores in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy.

  13. [The effects of transversus abdominis plane block on analgesic and anesthetic consumption during total abdominal hysterectomy: a randomized controlled study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karaman, Tugba; Ozsoy, Asker Zeki; Karaman, Serkan; Dogru, Serkan; Tapar, Hakan; Sahin, Aynur; Dogru, Hatice; Suren, Mustafa

    A transversus abdominis plane block is a peripheral block method that has been used successfully for pain relief after total abdominal hysterectomy. However, the effects of the combination of the transversus abdominis plane block and general anesthesia on analgesic and anesthetic requirements remain unclear. This randomized placebo-controlled study is aimed to evaluate the effects of transversus abdominis plane block on analgesic and anesthetic consumption during total abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia. Sixty-six women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy were randomized into two groups to receive general anesthesia alone (control group) or with transversus abdominis plane block using 20mL of 0.25% bupivacaine (transversus abdominis plane group). Intraoperative remifentanil and sevoflurane consumption were recorded. We also evaluated the postoperative pain, nausea, quality of recovery scores and rescue analgesic requirement during postoperative 24hours. The total remifentanil and sevoflurane consumption is significantly lower in transversus abdominis plane group; respectively mean (SD) 0.130 (0.25) vs. 0.094 (0.02) mcg.kg -1 .min -1 ; pplane group soon after surgery; median (range) 6 (2-10) vs. 3 (0-5); pplane group had significantly higher QoR-40 scores 190.5 (175-197) vs. 176.5 (141-187); pplane block with general anesthesia can provide reduced opioid and anesthetic consumption and can improve postoperative pain and quality of recovery scores in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy. Copyright © 2018 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  14. Postoperative analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block compared with medial transverse abdominis plane block in inguinal hernia repair: A prospective, randomised trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatia, Nidhi; Sen, Indu Mohini; Mandal, Banashree; Batra, Ankita

    2018-03-29

    Analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided transverse abdominis plane block, administered a little more medially, just close to the origin of the transverse abdominis muscle has not yet been investigated in patients undergoing unilateral inguinal hernia repair. We hypothesised that medial transverse abdominis plane block would provide comparable postoperative analgesia to ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block in inguinal hernia repair patients. This prospective, randomised trial was conducted in 50 ASA I and II male patients≥18 years of age. Patients were randomised into two groups to receive either pre-incisional ipsilateral ultrasound-guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block or medial transverse abdominis plane block, with 0.3ml/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine. Our primary objective was postoperative 24-hour analgesic consumption and secondary outcomes included pain scores, time to first request for rescue analgesic and side effects, if any, in the postoperative period. There was no significant difference in the total postoperative analgesic consumption [group I: 66.04mg; group II: 68.33mg (P value 0.908)]. Time to first request for rescue analgesic was delayed, though statistically non-significant (P value 0.326), following medial transverse abdominis plane block, with excellent pain relief seen in 58.3% patients as opposed to 45.8% patients in ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block group. Medial transverse abdominis plane block being a novel, simple and easily performed procedure can serve as an useful alternative to ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block for providing postoperative pain relief in inguinal hernia repair patients. Copyright © 2018 Société française d'anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  15. A randomised trial of the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block after caesarean delivery under general anaesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Terry T; Teoh, Wendy H L; Woo, David C M; Ocampo, Cecilia E; Shah, Mukesh K; Sia, Alex T H

    2012-02-01

    Previous studies examining the efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block after caesarean section have mostly been in parturients under spinal anaesthesia. We postulated that the advantage of performing transversus abdominis plane block after caesarean section might be even more obvious after general anaesthesia, resulting in reduced 24-h consumption of morphine. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS: In this single centre, randomised double-blind controlled trial, 40 women who underwent caesarean delivery under general anaesthesia were allocated randomly to receive a transversus abdominis plane block or no block. In those who received the block, 20 ml of levobupivacaine 2.5 mg ml was deposited bilaterally into the transversus abdominis plane under ultrasound guidance using a Sonosite Titan (SonoSite, Bothell, Washington, USA) 7-13 MHz linear transducer at the end of surgery when the patient was still anaesthetised. We recorded patient-controlled intravenous morphine use for 24 h, pain scores at rest and activity, sedation, nausea and vomiting, use of antiemetic medication and overall maternal satisfaction. The primary outcome was 24-h morphine consumption. Patients who received the transversus abdominis plane block used significantly less morphine in 24 h than those in the control group [12.3 (2.6) vs. 31.4 mg (3.1), Pplane block reduced morphine consumption following caesarean section under general anaesthesia, with increased maternal satisfaction.

  16. Ultrasound-guided versus surgical transversus abdominis plane block in obese patients following caesarean section: a prospective randomised study

    OpenAIRE

    Urfalıoğlu, Aykut; Bakacak, Murat; Boran, Ömer Faruk; Yazar, Fatih Mehmet; Arslan, Mahmut; Öksüz, Hafize

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Background and objectives Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block demonstrated efficacy in providing post-operative analgesia by prolonging the time to first analgesic requirement and reducing the total analgesic consumption. The surgical transversus abdominis plane block, a novel technique, can be performed safely in obese patients in whom muscle layers cannot be sufficiently exposed. Here, we compared applicability, efficacy and complications of surgical transversus ab...

  17. Systematic review of the systemic concentrations of local anaesthetic after transversus abdominis plane block and rectus sheath block

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rahiri, J.; Tuhoe, J.; Svirskis, D.; Lightfoot, N. J.; Lirk, P. B.; Hill, A. G.

    2017-01-01

    Background. Safe and efficacious modalities of perioperative analgesia are essential for enhanced recovery after surgery. Truncal nerve blocks are one potential adjunct for analgesia of the abdominal wall, and in recent years their popularity has increased. Transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB)

  18. Subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can improve analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir Vrsajkov

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background and goal of study: After laparoscopic cholecystectomy, patients have moderate pain in the early postoperative period. Some studies shown beneficial effects of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block on reducing this pain. Our goal was to investigate influence of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block on postoperative pain scores and opioid consumption. Materials and methods: We have randomized 76 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy to receive either subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (n = 38 or standard postoperative analgesia (n = 38. First group received bilateral ultrasound guided subcostal transversus abdominis plane block with 20 mL of 0.33% bupivacaine per side before operation and tramadol 1 mg.kg−1 IV for pain breakthrough (≥6. Second group received after operation tramadol 1 mg.kg−1/6 h as standard hospital analgesia protocol. Both groups received acetaminophen 1 g/8 h IV and metamizole 2.5 g/12 h. Pain at rest was recorded for each patient using NR scale (0–10 in period of 10 min, 30 min, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 16 h after the surgery. Results and discussion: We obtained no difference between groups according age, weight, intraoperative fentanyl consumption and duration of surgery. Subcostal transversus abdominis plane block significantly reduced postoperative pain scores compared to standard analgesia in all periods after surgery. Tramadol consumption was significantly lower in the subcostal transversus abdominis plane (24.29 ± 47.54 g than in the standard analgesia group (270.2 ± 81.9 g (p = 0.000. Conclusion: Our results show that subcostal transversus abdominis plane block can provide superior postoperative analgesia and reduction in opioid requirements after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Resumo: Justificativa e objetivo: Após a colecistectomia laparoscópica, os pacientes apresentam dor moderada no pós-operatório imediato. Alguns estudos mostraram

  19. Distribution patterns, dermatomal anesthesia, and Ropivacaine serum concentrations after bilateral dualtransversus abdominis plane block

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Sys Stybe

    2012-01-01

    The ability of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks to anesthetize the upper abdomen remains debatable. We aimed to describe the local anesthetic distribution following ultrasound-guided TAP blocks with repeated magnetic resonance imaging investigations and to relate this to the resulting der...

  20. Analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block after total abdominal hysterectomy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Røjskjaer, Jesper O; Gade, Erik; Kiel, Louise B

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of bilateral ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block with ropivacaine compared with placebo as part of a multimodal analgesic regimen. DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial following the CONSORT criteria. SETTING: Hvidovre Univers...

  1. Transversus abdominis plane block for analgesia in renal transplantation: a randomized controlled trial.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Freir, Noelle M

    2012-10-01

    The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has proven effective in reducing opioid requirements and pain scores for some procedures involving the lower abdominal wall. In this study we assessed its efficacy in patients with end-stage renal failure undergoing cadaveric renal transplantation.

  2. Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks for patients undergoing laparoscopic hand-assisted nephrectomy: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aniskevich S

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Stephen Aniskevich,1 C Burcin Taner,2 Dana K Perry,2 Christopher B Robards,3 Steven B Porter,3 Colleen S Thomas,4 Ilana I Logvinov,5 Steven R Clendenen41Department of Anesthesia, Division of Transplant Anesthesia, 2Department of Transplantation, 3Department of Anesthesia, Division of Regional Anesthesia, 4Division of Health Sciences Research, Section of Biostatistics, 5Department of Anesthesia, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USAAbstract: Postoperative pain is a common complaint following living kidney donation or tumor resection using the laparoscopic hand-assisted technique. To evaluate the potential analgesic benefit of transversus abdominis plane blocks, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 21 patients scheduled to undergo elective living-donor nephrectomy or single-sided nephrectomy for tumor. Patients were randomized to receive either 20 mL of 0.5% ropivacaine or 20 mL of 0.9% saline bilaterally to the transversus abdominis plane under ultrasound guidance. We found that transversus abdominis plane blocks reduced overall pain scores at 24 hours, with a trend toward decreased total morphine consumption. Nausea, vomiting, sedation, and time to discharge were not significantly different between the two study groups.Keywords: transversus abdominis plane block, nephrectomy, kidney donor, ultrasound guidance

  3. Efficacy of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block in laparoscopic hysterectomy. Clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guardabassi, D S; Lupi, S; Agejas, R; Allub, J M; García-Fornari, G

    2017-05-01

    Transversus abdominis plane block is a regional anaesthesia technique that has proven to be effective for postoperative pain reduction in different abdominal surgical procedures. This study evaluated its efficacy on post laparoscopic hysterectomy pain intensity and analgesic consumption. Randomized controlled trial which included 40 patients scheduled for laparoscopic hysterectomy, enrolled in 2 groups: transversus abdominis plane block+systemic analgesia (Group 1; n=20), versus systemic analgesia (Group 2; n=20). Opioid consumption within the first 24 postoperative hours, pain intensity scores at 60min, 2, 8 and 24h after surgery, adverse events related to systemic analgesia and time to hospital discharge were evaluated and registered. We found no differences between both groups in opioid consumption (10mg vs. 7mg; P=.2) and pain scores (NVS) within the first 24 postoperative hours, at 60min (3 vs. 5; P=.65), 120min (0 vs. 2; P=.15), 8 and 24h (0 vs. 0; P>.50) for the last 2 points in time analysed. Adverse events related to medication and time to hospital discharge showed similar results. Adding a transversus abdominis plane block technique to opioid PCA does not seem to improve postoperative pain management in laparoscopic hysterectomy. Patient preparation time and costs could be incremented and complications (although rare) related to the technique could appear. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  4. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block after robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Torup, H; Bøgeskov, M; Hansen, E G

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is widely used as a part of pain management after various abdominal surgeries. We evaluated the effect of TAP block as an add-on to the routine analgesic regimen in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy. METHODS......: In a prospective blinded study, 70 patients scheduled for elective robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy were randomised to receive either TAP block (ropivacaine 0.5%, 20 ml on each side) or sham block (isotonic saline 0.9%, 20 ml on each side). All patients had patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine...... and Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) treatment, had no effect on morphine consumption, VAS pain scores, or frequency of nausea and vomiting after robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy compared with paracetamol and NSAID alone....

  5. Comparison of ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block versus local wound infiltration for post operative analgesia in patients undergoing gynaecological surgery under general anaesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranjit, S; Shrestha, S K

    2014-01-01

    Transversus abdominis plane block has been recently developed as a part of multimodal post operative analgesic techniques. We compared the analgesic efficacy of this technique with local bupivacaine infiltration in patients undergoing gynaecological surgeries with pfannenstiel incision and lower midline incision under general anaesthesia. To evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia. Patients were randomly allocated to three groups: control group (n=15), transversus abdominis plane block group (n=15), who received bilateral transversus abdominis plane blockwith 0.25% bupivacaine, and local infiltration group (n=15), who received local wound infiltration with 0.25% bupivacaine at the end of surgery. All patients received intramuscular diclofenac 12 hourly and intravenous tramadol SOS in the postoperative period. Visual analogue scores for pain were assessed at 1,2,4,8,12 and 24 hours postoperatively and these were compared between the three groups. Average tramadol consumption in 24 hours were also compared among the three groups. Data were subjected to univariate ANOVA test and chi-square test. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Visual analogue scores were significantly less in transversus abdominis plane block group and effect lasted up to 12 hours at rest postoperatively and 8 hours during cough and movement. Bilateral Transversus abdominis plane block was effective in reducing postoperative pain scores for 8 to 12 hours postoperatively. This block was also successful in reducing postoperative opioid requirement.

  6. Comparison of transversus abdominis plane block vs spinal morphine for pain relief after Caesarean section.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McMorrow, R C N

    2011-05-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an alternative to spinal morphine for analgesia after Caesarean section but there are few data on its comparative efficacy. We compared the analgesic efficacy of the TAP block with and without spinal morphine after Caesarean section in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial.

  7. Transversus abdominis plane block in renal allotransplant recipients: A retrospective chart review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gopwani, S R; Rosenblatt, M A

    2016-01-01

    The efficacy of the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block appears to vary considerably, depending on the surgical procedure and block technique. This study aims to add to the existing literature and provide a more clear understanding of the TAP blocks role as a postoperative analgesic technique, specifically in renal allotransplant recipients. A retrospective chart review was conducted by querying the intraoperative electronic medical record system of a 1200-bed tertiary academic hospital over a 5 months period, and reviewing anesthetic techniques, as well as postoperative morphine equivalent consumption. Fifty renal allotransplant recipients were identified, 13 of whom received TAP blocks while 37 received no regional analgesic technique. All blocks were performed under ultrasound guidance, with 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine injected in the transversus abdominis fascial plane under direct visualization. The primary outcome was postoperative morphine equivalent consumption. Morphine consumption was compared with the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U -test. Continuous variables of patient baseline characteristics were analyzed with unpaired t -test and categorical variables with Fischer Exact Test. A P consumption was found in the group that received the TAP block at 6 h (2.46 mg vs. 7.27 mg, P = 0.0010), 12 h (3.88 mg vs. 10.20 mg, P = 0.0005), 24 h (6.96 mg vs. 14.75 mg, P = 0.0013), and 48 h (11 mg vs. 20.13 mg, P = 0.0092). The TAP block is a beneficial postoperative analgesic, opiate-sparing technique in renal allotransplant recipients.

  8. Cutaneous Sensory Block Area, Muscle-Relaxing Effect, and Block Duration of the Transversus Abdominis Plane Block

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Støving, Kion; Rothe, Christian; Rosenstock, Charlotte V

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a widely used nerve block. However, basic block characteristics are poorly described. The purpose of this study was to assess the cutaneous sensory block area, muscle-relaxing effect, and block duration. METHODS: Sixteen...... healthy volunteers were randomized to receive an ultrasound-guided unilateral TAP block with 20 mL 7.5 mg/mL ropivacaine and placebo on the contralateral side. Measurements were performed at baseline and 90 minutes after performing the block. Cutaneous sensory block area was mapped and separated...... into a medial and lateral part by a vertical line through the anterior superior iliac spine. We measured muscle thickness of the 3 lateral abdominal muscle layers with ultrasound in the relaxed state and during maximal voluntary muscle contraction. The volunteers reported the duration of the sensory block...

  9. Thoracic paravertebral block versus transversus abdominis plane block in major gynecological surgery: a prospective, randomized, controlled, observer-blinded study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melnikov AL

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Andrey L Melnikov,1 Steinar Bjoergo,1 Ulf E Kongsgaard21Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 2Department of Research and Development, Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Oslo University Hospital and Medical Faculty, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayBackground and objectives: Patients undergoing abdominal surgery often receive an epidural infusion for postoperative analgesia. However, when epidural analgesia is contraindicated or unwanted, the administration of opioids is the usual means used to relieve pain. Various regional analgesia techniques used in conjunction with systemic analgesia have been reported to reduce the cumulative postoperative opioid consumption and opioid-induced side effects. The objective of this trial was to assess the effectiveness of transversus abdominis plane block and paravertebral block in women undergoing major gynecological surgery.Methods: We analyzed 58 patients scheduled for a midline vertical laparatomy due to gynecological cancer. They were all equipped with a patient-controlled postoperative analgesia pump that delivered ketobemidon. In addition, some patients were randomized to receive either a bilateral transversus abdominis plane block (n = 19 or a bilateral paravertebral block at the level of Th10 (n = 19. Both blocks were performed preoperatively as a single injection of bupivacaine.Results: Cumulative ketobemidon consumption, postoperative pain scores at rest and while coughing, and postoperative nausea and vomiting scores were assessed by a blinded observer at 2, 4, 6, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively. Both blocks were associated with significant reductions in opioid consumption and pain scores throughout the study period compared with the control patients. Postoperative nausea and vomiting scores were low in all groups, but during the early postoperative period more control group patients needed antiemetics

  10. The transversus abdominis plane block provides effective postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Carney, John

    2008-12-01

    Patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy suffer significant postoperative pain. The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a recently described approach to providing analgesia to the anterior abdominal wall. We evaluated the analgesic efficacy of the TAP block in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy via a transverse lower abdominal wall incision, in a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial.

  11. The analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block after abdominal surgery: a prospective randomized controlled trial.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McDonnell, John G

    2007-01-01

    The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a novel approach for blocking the abdominal wall neural afferents via the bilateral lumbar triangles of Petit. We evaluated its analgesic efficacy in patients during the first 24 postoperative hours after abdominal surgery, in a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial.

  12. Analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block after total abdominal hysterectomy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Røjskjaer, Jesper O; Gade, Erik; Kiel, Louise B; Lind, Morten N; Pedersen, Lars M; Kristensen, Billy B; Rasmussen, Yvonne H; Foss, Nicolai B

    2015-03-01

    To assess the effect of bilateral ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block with ropivacaine compared with placebo as part of a multimodal analgesic regimen. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial following the CONSORT criteria. Hvidovre University Hospital. Forty-six women scheduled for total abdominal hysterectomy. Women received either ropivacaine 0.75%, 20 mL (n = 24) or 0.9% saline, 20 mL (n = 24) in the transversus abdominis plane on each side. Primary outcome was the 24-h postoperative morphine consumption. Secondary outcomes were pain scores at rest and during coughing, postoperative nausea and vomiting at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 h, and time to first mobilization. There was no difference in the mean 24-h postoperative morphine consumption between the two groups (p = 0.733). The ropivacaine group had significantly lower median pain scores at 1 h (p = 0.008) and 2 h (p = 0.027) postoperatively at rest and at 8 h (p = 0.028) during coughing. There was no significant difference in other secondary outcomes. There was no reduction in 24-h morphine consumption when using an ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block in women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy. As part of a multimodal regimen the transversus abdominis plane block showed some effect on pain scores at rest only in the early postoperative period. © 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  13. Transperitoneal rectus sheath block and transversus abdominis plane block for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: A novel approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagata, Jun; Watanabe, Jun; Nagata, Masato; Sawatsubashi, Yusuke; Akiyama, Masaki; Tajima, Takehide; Arase, Koichi; Minagawa, Noritaka; Torigoe, Takayuki; Nakayama, Yoshifumi; Horishita, Reiko; Kida, Kentaro; Hamada, Kotaro; Hirata, Keiji

    2017-08-01

    A laparoscopic approach for inguinal hernia repair is now considered the gold standard. Laparoscopic surgery is associated with a significant reduction in postoperative pain. Epidural analgesia cannot be used in patients with perioperative anticoagulant therapy because of complications such as epidural hematoma. As such, regional anesthetic techniques, such as ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block and transversus abdominis plane block, have become increasingly popular. However, even these anesthetic techniques have potential complications, such as rectus sheath hematoma, if vessels are damaged. We report the use of a transperitoneal laparoscopic approach for rectus sheath block and transversus abdominis plane block as a novel anesthetic procedure. An 81-year-old woman with direct inguinal hernia underwent laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal inguinal repair. Epidural anesthesia was not performed because anticoagulant therapy was administered. A Peti-needle™ was delivered through the port, and levobupivacaine was injected though the peritoneum. Surgery was performed successfully, and the anesthetic technique did not affect completion of the operative procedure. The patient was discharged without any complications. This technique was feasible, and the procedure was performed safely. Our novel analgesia technique has potential use as a standard postoperative regimen in various laparoscopic surgeries. Additional prospective studies to compare it with other techniques are required. © 2017 Japan Society for Endoscopic Surgery, Asia Endosurgery Task Force and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  14. Liposomal Bupivacaine Use in Transversus Abdominis Plane Blocks Reduces Pain and Postoperative Intravenous Opioid Requirement After Colorectal Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, Audrey L; Adhikary, Sanjib D; Quintili, Ashley; Puleo, Frances J; Choi, Christine S; Hollenbeak, Christopher S; Messaris, Evangelos

    2017-02-01

    Enhanced recovery protocols frequently use multimodal postoperative analgesia to improve postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate liposomal bupivacaine use in transversus abdominis plane blocks on postoperative pain scores and opioid use after colorectal surgery. This was a retrospective cohort study comparing outcomes between patients receiving nonliposomal anesthetic (n = 104) and liposomal bupivacaine (n = 303) blocks. The study was conducted at a single tertiary care center. Patients included those identified within an institutional database as inpatients undergoing colorectal procedures between 2013 and 2015 who underwent transversus abdominis plane block for perioperative analgesia. The study measured postoperative pain scores and opioid requirements. Patients receiving liposomal bupivacaine had significantly lower pain scores for the first 24 to 36 postoperative hours. Pain scores were similar after 36 hours. The use of intravenous opioids among the liposomal bupivacaine group decreased by more than one third during the hospitalization (99.1 vs 64.5 mg; p = 0.040). The use of ketorolac was also decreased (49.0 vs 18.3 mg; p bupivacaine group but did not achieve statistical significance. The study was limited by its retrospective, single-center design and heterogeneity of block administration. Attenuated pain scores observed with liposomal bupivacaine use were associated with significantly lower intravenous opioid and ketorolac use, suggesting that liposomal bupivacaine-containing transversus abdominis plane blocks are well aligned with the opioid-reducing goals of many enhanced recovery protocols.

  15. The analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block after cesarean delivery: a randomized controlled trial.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McDonnell, John G

    2008-01-01

    The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an effective method of providing postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing midline abdominal wall incisions. We evaluated its analgesic efficacy over the first 48 postoperative hours after cesarean delivery performed through a Pfannensteil incision, in a randomized controlled, double-blind, clinical trial.

  16. Ultrasound-guided versus surgical transversus abdominis plane block in obese patients following cesarean section: a prospective randomised study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aykut Urfalıoğlu

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background and objectives: Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block demonstrated efficacy in providing post-operative analgesia by prolonging the time to first analgesic requirement and reducing the total analgesic consumption. The surgical transversus abdominis plane block, a novel technique, can be performed safely in obese patients in whom muscle layers cannot be sufficiently exposed. Here, we compared applicability, efficacy and complications of surgical transversus abdominis plane and ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks in obese pregnant women following cesarean section under general anesthesia. Methods: Seventy-five pregnant women with pre- and post-pregnancy body mass index > 30 were randomized and allocated into two groups: Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block (UT group; n = 38 and surgical TAP block (ST group; n = 37. Visual analogue scale scores at post-operative 0, 2, 6, 12 and 24 hours (h, time to first analgesic requirement, total analgesic consumption amount in 24 h, post-operative side effects, complications and patient satisfaction were recorded. Results and conclusions: Age, American Society of Anesthesiologist score, operative duration, body mass index, mean time to first analgesic requirement and total analgesic consumption in 24 h were similar between groups, while significant differences in pre- and post-pregnancy body mass index were observed between groups. Block procedure durations were 7 and 10 minutes in ST and UT groups, respectively. No significant differences in visual analogue scale scores were observed between the groups at all times; itching and nausea was observed in one (UT group and four (UT and ST groups patients, respectively. Surgical transversus abdominis plane block was safe in obese pregnant patients and provided similar post-operative analgesia to ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block. Resumo: Justificativa e objetivos: O bloqueio do

  17. Combination of Transversus abdominis plane block and Serratus plane block anesthesia in dogs submitted to masctetomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana G. Teixeira

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: This paper pretends to demonstrate the effect of the combination of transversus abdominis plane block (TAP block and Serratus plane block (SP block techniques in analgesia of 4 dogs undergoing total unilateral mastectomy. Dogs were premedicated with methadone (0.5mg.kg-1 intramuscularly. Anesthesia was induced with propofol (6mg.kg-1 and midazolam (0.3mg.kg-1 and maintained with isoflurane. SP and TAP block were performed unilaterally using ultrasound by the injection of bupivacaine 0.25% (0.3mL kg-1 diluted with NaCl solution 1:1. Heart rate (HR, respiratory rate (f, non-invasive arterial pressure, esophageal temperature (T, oxygen saturation (SpO2 and electrocardiogram were monitored continuously. Animals were monitored for two and four hours after extubation for pain by using the Canine Acute Pain Scale from Colorado State University. Two hours after extubation, tramadol (4mg.kg-1 and dipyrone (25mg.kg-1 was administered to all dogs. It was not observed any alteration on cardiac rhythm. HR, f, T and mean arterial pressure remained below the preincisional values for all dogs. No dog required intraoperative rescue analgesia. Recovery from anesthesia was without any complication. All animals scored 0 (0/5 at pain scale, two and four hours after extubation and none of them expressed concern over the surgical wound. Dogs were able to walk before two hours after extubation. The combination of both techniques is effective in anesthetic blocking the thoracic and abdominal walls and it is suggested both may be included in the multimodal analgesia protocols for this type of surgery.

  18. Thoracic epidural catheter for postoperative pain control following an ineffective transversus abdominis plane block using liposome bupivacaine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Terrien BD

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Brian D Terrien,1 David Espinoza,2 Charles C Stehman,3 Gabriel A Rodriguez,1 Nicholas C Connolly1 1Department of Anesthesiology, Naval Medical Center San Diego, 2Surface Warfare Medical Institute, San Diego, 3Department of Anesthesiology, Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital, Twenty Nine Palms, CA, USA Abstract: A 24-year-old female with a history of ulcerative colitis underwent colectomy. The patient received an ineffective transversus abdominis plane (TAP block with liposome bupivacaine (Exparel intraoperatively and was started on a hydromorphone patient-controlled analgesia 5 hours after the TAP block, which did not relieve her pain. A continuous thoracic epidural (CTE was then placed after blood levels of bupivacaine were drawn, and the patient immediately experienced significant pain relief. The combined use of liposome bupivacaine and bupivacaine CTE infusion in the postoperative management of this patient demonstrated no safety concerns, provided excellent analgesia and plasma concentrations of bupivacaine remained far below toxic levels. Keywords: liposome bupivacaine (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension, plasma bupivacaine levels, transversus abdominis plane (TAP nerve block, thoracic epidural

  19. Efficacy of trans abdominis plane block for post cesarean delivery analgesia: A double-blind, randomized trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uma Srivastava

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The transverse abdominis plane (TAP block, a regional block provides effective analgesia after lower abdominal surgeries if used as part of multimodal analgesia. In this prospective, randomized double-blind study, we determined the efficacy of TAP block in patients undergoing cesarean section. Materials and Methods: Totally, 62 parturients undergoing cesarean section were randomized in a double-blind manner to receive either bilateral TAP block at the end of surgery with 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine or no TAP block, in addition to standard analgesic comprising 75 mg diclofenac 8 hourly and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA tramadol. Each patient was assessed at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h after surgery by an independent observer for pain at rest and on movement using numeric rating scale of 0-10, time of 1 st demand for tramadol, total consumption of PCA tramadol, satisfaction with pain management and side effects. Results: Use of tramadol was reduced in patients given TAP block by 50% compared to patients given no block during 48 h after surgery (P < 0.001. Pain scores were lower both on rest and activity at each time point for 24 h in study group (P < 0.001, time of first analgesia was significantly longer, satisfaction was higher, and side effects were less in study group compared to control group. Conclusion: Transverse abdominis plane block was effective in providing analgesia with a substantial reduction in tramadol use during 48 h after cesarean section when used as adjunctive to standard analgesia.

  20. The effects of transversus abdominis plane block on analgesic and anesthetic consumption during total abdominal hysterectomy: a randomized controlled study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tugba Karaman

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Background and objectives: A transversus abdominis plane block is a peripheral block method that has been used successfully for pain relief after total abdominal hysterectomy. However, the effects of the combination of the transversus abdominis plane block and general anesthesia on analgesic and anesthetic requirements remain unclear. This randomized placebo-controlled study is aimed to evaluate the effects of transversus abdominis plane block on analgesic and anesthetic consumption during total abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia. Methods: Sixty-six women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy were randomized into two groups to receive general anesthesia alone (control group or with transversus abdominis plane block using 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine (transversus abdominis plane group. Intraoperative remifentanil and sevoflurane consumption were recorded. We also evaluated the postoperative pain, nausea, quality of recovery scores and rescue analgesic requirement during postoperative 24 hours. Results: The total remifentanil and sevoflurane consumption is significantly lower in transversus abdominis plane group; respectively mean (SD 0.130 (0.25 vs. 0.094 (0.02 mcg.kg−1.min−1; p < 0.01 and 0.295 (0.05 vs. 0.243 (0.06 mL.min−1; p < 0.01. In the postoperative period, pain scores were significantly reduced in transversus abdominis plane group soon after surgery; median (range 6 (2–10 vs. 3 (0–5; p < 0.001, at 2 h (5 [3–9] vs. 2.5 [0–6]; p < 0.001, at 6 h (4 [2–7] vs. 3[0–6], p < 0.001, at 12 h (3.5 [1–6] vs. 2 [1–5]; p = 0.003. The patients in the transversus abdominis plane group had significantly higher QoR-40 scores 190.5 (175–197 vs. 176.5 (141–187; p < 0.001. Conclusion: Combining transversus abdominis plane block with general anesthesia can provide reduced opioid and anesthetic consumption and can improve postoperative pain and quality of recovery scores in patients undergoing total

  1. Ipsilateral transversus abdominis plane block provides effective analgesia after appendectomy in children: a randomized controlled trial.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Carney, John

    2010-10-01

    The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block provides effective postoperative analgesia in adults undergoing major abdominal surgery. Its efficacy in children remains unclear, with no randomized clinical trials in this population. In this study, we evaluated its analgesic efficacy over the first 48 postoperative hours after appendectomy performed through an open abdominal incision, in a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial.

  2. Is pulmonary function affected by bilateral dual transversus abdominis plane block? A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover pilot study in healthy male volunteers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Maria; Elers, Jimmi; Børglum, Jens

    2011-01-01

    : Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks have been shown to reduce postoperative pain after various abdominal surgical procedures in several studies. The motor nerves of the abdominal wall are located in the same plane as the sensory nerves affected by the TAP block. The aim of this study...

  3. A randomized trial comparing surgeon-administered intraoperative transversus abdominis plane block with anesthesiologist-administered transcutaneous block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narasimhulu, D M; Scharfman, L; Minkoff, H; George, B; Homel, P; Tyagaraj, K

    2018-04-27

    Injection of local anesthetic into the transversus abdominis plane (TAP block) decreases systemic morphine requirements after abdominal surgery. We compared intraoperative surgeon-administered TAP block (surgical TAP) to anesthesiologist-administered transcutaneous ultrasound-guided TAP block (conventional TAP) for post-cesarean analgesia. We hypothesized that surgical TAP blocks would take less time to perform than conventional TAP blocks. We performed a randomized trial, recruiting 41 women undergoing cesarean delivery under neuraxial anesthesia, assigning them to either surgical TAP block (n=20) or conventional TAP block (n=21). Time taken to perform the block was the primary outcome, while postoperative pain scores and 24-hour opioid requirements were secondary outcomes. Student's t-test was used to compare block time and Kruskal-Wallis test opioid consumption and pain-scores. Time taken to perform the block (2.4 vs 12.1 min, P consumption (P=0.17) and postoperative pain scores at 4, 8, 24 and 48 h were not significantly different between the groups. Surgical TAP blocks are feasible and less time consuming than conventional TAP blocks, while providing comparable analgesia after cesarean delivery. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block: a useful adjunct in the management of postoperative respiratory failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Mandeep; Chin, Ki Jinn; Chan, Vincent

    2011-06-01

    The ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a useful tool in controlling postoperative pain following abdominal surgery. The bilateral ultrasound-guided TAP blocks successfully managed the pain of a patient presenting with hypoxemia and respiratory failure in the Post-anesthesia Care Unit, following a laparotomy for small bowel obstruction during general anesthesia. The TAP block reduced systemic opioid requirements and opioid-induced sedation and respiratory depression, improved patient compliance with non-invasive positive pressure ventilation, and prevented the need for intubation and ventilation in the intensive care unit. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Transversus abdominis plane block for an emergency laparotomy in a high-risk, elderly patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Surekha S Patil

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A 72-year-old male patient with gall bladder perforation and small intestinal obstruction from impacted gall stone was posted for emergency laparotomy. He had congestive heart failure, severe hypertension at admission and history of multiple other coexisting diseases. On admission, he developed pulmonary oedema from systolic hypertension which was controlled by ventilatory support, nitroglycerine and furosemide. Preoperative international normalized ratio was 2.34 and left ventricular ejection fraction was only 20%. Because of risk of exaggerated fall in blood pressure during induction of anaesthesia (general or neuraxial, a transversus abdominis plane block via combined Petit triangle and subcostal technique was administered and supplemented with Propofol sedation.

  6. Comparison of ultrasound-guided posterior transversus abdominis plane block and lateral transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative pain management in patients undergoing cesarean section: a randomized double-blind clinical trial study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faiz, Seyed Hamid Reza; Alebouyeh, Mahmoud Reza; Derakhshan, Pooya; Imani, Farnad; Rahimzadeh, Poupak; Ghaderi Ashtiani, Maryam

    2018-01-01

    Due to the importance of pain control after abdominal surgery, several methods such as transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block are used to reduce the pain after surgery. TAP blocks can be performed using various ultrasound-guided approaches. Two important approaches to do this are ultrasound-guided lateral and posterior approaches. This study aimed to compare the two approaches of ultrasound-guided lateral and posterior TAP blocks to control pain after cesarean section. In this double-blind clinical trial study, 76 patients scheduled for elective cesarean section were selected and randomly divided into two groups of 38 and underwent spinal anesthesia. For pain management after the surgery, one group underwent lateral TAP block and the other group underwent posterior TAP block using 20cc of ropivacaine 0.2% on both sides. Pain intensity was evaluated based on Numerical Analog Scale (NAS) at rest and when coughing, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24 and 36 hours after surgery. The pain at rest in the posterior group at all hours post surgery was lower than the lateral group, especially at 6, 12 and 24 hours after the surgery and the difference was statistically significant ( p =0.03, p block compared with the lateral TAP block was more effective in pain control after cesarean section.

  7. Transversus Abdominis Plane Blocks with Single-Dose Liposomal Bupivacaine in Conjunction with a Nonnarcotic Pain Regimen Help Reduce Length of Stay following Abdominally Based Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jablonka, Eric M; Lamelas, Andreas M; Kim, Julie N; Molina, Bianca; Molina, Nathan; Okwali, Michelle; Samson, William; Sultan, Mark R; Dayan, Joseph H; Smith, Mark L

    2017-08-01

    Side effects associated with use of postoperative narcotics for pain control can delay recovery after abdominally based microsurgical breast reconstruction. The authors evaluated a nonnarcotic pain control regimen in conjunction with bilateral transversus abdominis plane blocks on facilitating early hospital discharge. A retrospective analysis was performed of consecutive patients who underwent breast reconstruction using abdominally based free flaps, with or without being included in a nonnarcotic protocol using intraoperative transversus abdominis plane blockade. During this period, the use of locoregional analgesia evolved from none (control), to continuous bupivacaine infusion transversus abdominis plane and catheters, to single-dose transversus abdominis plane blockade with liposomal bupivacaine solution. Demographic factors, length of stay, inpatient opioid consumption, and complications were reported for all three groups. One hundred twenty-eight consecutive patients (182 flaps) were identified. Forty patients (62 flaps) were in the infusion-liposomal bupivacaine group, 48 (66 flaps) were in the single-dose blockade-catheter group, and 40 (54 flaps) were in the control group. The infusion-liposomal bupivacaine patients had a significantly shorter hospital stay compared with the single-dose blockade-catheter group (2.65 ± 0.66 versus 3.52 ± 0.92 days; p plane blocks performed with single injections of liposomal bupivacaine help facilitate early hospital discharge after abdominally based microsurgical breast reconstruction. A trend toward consistent discharge by postoperative day 2 was seen. This could result in significant cost savings for health care systems. Therapeutic, III.

  8. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in laparoscopic colorectal surgery improves postoperative pain management: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hain, E; Maggiori, L; Prost À la Denise, J; Panis, Y

    2018-04-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a locoregional anaesthesia technique of growing interest in abdominal surgery. However, its efficacy following laparoscopic colorectal surgery is still debated. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy of TAP block after laparoscopic colorectal surgery. All comparative studies focusing on TAP block after laparoscopic colorectal surgery have been systematically identified through the MEDLINE database, reviewed and included. Meta-analysis was performed according to the Mantel-Haenszel method for random effects. End-points included postoperative opioid consumption, morbidity, time to first bowel movement and length of hospital stay. A total of 13 studies, including 7 randomized controlled trials, were included, comprising a total of 600 patients who underwent laparoscopic colorectal surgery with TAP block, compared with 762 patients without TAP block. Meta-analysis of these studies showed that TAP block was associated with a significantly reduced postoperative opioid consumption on the first day after surgery [weighted mean difference (WMD) -14.54 (-25.14; -3.94); P = 0.007] and a significantly shorter time to first bowel movement [WMD -0.53 (-0.61; -0.44); P plane (TAP) block in laparoscopic colorectal surgery improves postoperative opioid consumption and recovery of postoperative digestive function without any significant drawback. Colorectal Disease © 2018 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

  9. Bilateral transversus abdominis plane block as a sole anesthetic technique in emergency surgery for perforative peritonitis in a high risk patient

    OpenAIRE

    Mishra, Lipi; Pani, Nibedita; Mishra, Debasis; Patel, Nupur

    2013-01-01

    Although transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an effective way of providing analgesia in post-operative abdominal surgery patients; however, it can be considered as an anesthetic technique in high-risk cases for surgery. We report a case of a geriatric female with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the respiratory failure, hypotension, posted in an emergency with old perforation leading to peritonitis. The surgery was successfully conducted under bilateral TAP block, which was use...

  10. Effect of transversus abdominis plane block on cost of laparoscopic cholecystectomy anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokulu, Serdar; Bakı, Elif Doğan; Kaçar, Emre; Bal, Ahmet; Şenay, Hasan; Üstün, Kübra Demir; Yılmaz, Sezgin; Ela, Yüksel; Sıvacı, Remziye Gül

    2014-12-23

    Use of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block for postoperative analgesia is continuously increasing. However, few studies have investigated intraoperative effects of TAP block. We aimed to study the effects of TAP block in terms of cost-effectiveness and consumption of inhalation agents. Forty patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: Group 1 (n=20) patients received TAP block and Group 2 (n=20) patients did not receive TAP block. Standard anesthesia induction was used in all patients. For the maintenance of anesthesia, fractional inspired oxygen (FIO2) of 50% in air with desflurane was used with a fresh gas flow of 4 L/min. All patients were monitored with electrocardiography and for peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), end-tidal carbon dioxide (ET), heart rate (HR), noninvasive mean blood pressure (MBP), and bispectral index (BIS). Bilateral TAP blocks were performed under ultrasound guidance to Group 1 patients. The BIS value was maintained at between 40 and 50 during the surgery. The Dion formula was used to calculate consumption of desflurane for each patient. There was no difference between the groups with respect to demographic characteristics of the patients. Duration of anesthesia, surgery time, and dosage of fentanyl were similar in the 2 groups. However, the cost and consumption of desflurane was significantly lower in Group 1. Total anesthesia consumption was lower and the cost-effectiveness of anesthesia was better in TAP block patients with general anesthesia than in non-TAP block patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

  11. Analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block in neonates and early infants for colostomy and reversal of colostomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chee Kean; Teo, Shu Ching; Phui, Vui Eng; Saman, Mat Ariffin

    2015-01-01

    The application of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in paediatric population is gaining popularity among anaesthetists. We present a case series of ultrasound-guided TAP block in ten neonate and infants undergoing colostomy and reversal of stoma. Classical TAP as described by Hebbard was carried out and a maximum dosage of 1ml/kg of 0.25% levobupivacaine was injected. Pain score was assessed using Neonatal Infant Pain Scale for 24 hours. In all patients, the block was successful with minimal hemodynamic changes intraoperatively and no additional systemic analgesia was needed intraoperative and immediate postoperatively. Ultrasound-guided TAP block has an important role in providing safe and effective analgesia for colostomy creation and reversal of stoma surgeries in paediatric population.

  12. Efficacy of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair

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    Venkatraman R

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Rajagopalan Venkatraman, Ranganathan Jothi Abhinaya, Ayyanar Sakthivel, Govindarajan Sivarajan Department of Anaesthesia, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Background and aim: Transversus abdominis plane block (TAP block is a novel procedure to provide postoperative analgesia following inguinal hernia surgery. The utilization of ultrasound has greatly augmented the success rate of this block and additionally avoiding complications. The aim of our study was to gauge the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided TAP block in patients undergoing unilateral inguinal hernia repair. Materials and methods: Sixty patients scheduled for elective inguinal hernia repair were selected for the study. At the end of the surgical procedure, they were randomly divided into two groups. Ultrasound-guided TAP block was performed with 20 mL of ropivacaine 0.2% (group A or normal saline (group B. Visual analog scale (VAS scores were used to assess pain. Paracetamol was given if VAS >3 and tramadol was used when VAS >6. Patients were monitored for VAS scores and total analgesic consumption for the 24-hour period. Results: The TAP block with ropivacaine (group A reduced VAS scores at 4, 6, and 12 hours. There was no distinction in VAS scores at 0, 2, and 24 hours between the two groups. The duration of analgesia for TAP block with ropivacaine lasted for 390 minutes. Total analgesics consumption was also significantly reduced in group A than group B. No complication was reported to TAP block in both the groups. Conclusion: The ultrasound-guided TAP block provides good postoperative analgesia, reduces analgesic requirements, and provides good VAS scores with fewer complications following inguinal hernia surgery. Keywords: inguinal hernia repair, postoperative analgesia, ropivacaine, transversus abdominis block, ultrasound

  13. Transversus abdominis plane block after ambulatory total laparoscopic hysterectomy: randomized controlled trial.

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    Calle, Gustavo A; López, Claudia C; Sánchez, Enrique; De Los Ríos, José F; Vásquez, Elsa M; Serna, Eduardo; Arango, Adriana M; Castañeda, Juan D; Vásquez, Ricardo A; González, Antonio; Escobar, Alvaro; Almanza, Luis A

    2014-04-01

    To determine if transversus abdominis plane anesthetic blockage (TAP block) diminishes early postoperative pain scores and facilitates ambulatory management following total laparoscopic hysterectomy. Randomized triple blind trial. Gynecological endoscopy unit at a referral center for laparoscopic surgery. A total of 197 patients. Comparison of a treatment group receiving TAP block with bupivacaine 0.25% and placebo group with comparably placed bilateral injection of sterile saline solution. Pain scores at discharge 24, 48 and 72 h after surgery, opioid requirement after procedure. Patients who had TAP block had a significant reduction in their pain score at discharge compared with the placebo group (p = 0.017). There were no significant differences in the pain scores between groups at 24 h (95% CI 1.36-0.133, p = 0.237), 48 h (95% CI 0.689-0.465, p = 0.702) and 72 h (95% CI -0.631 to 0.223, p = 0.347). No differences were found between the groups regarding opioid requirements following the procedure (χ(2)  = 3.62, p = 0.46). Although TAP block after a total laparoscopic hysterectomy reduced the pain score at discharge compared with placebo, its role in this setting is debatable due to the possible lack of clinical significance of the small difference found. © 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  14. Comparison of analgesic efficacy of four-quadrant transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and continuous posterior TAP analgesia with epidural analgesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal surgery: an open-label, randomised, non-inferiority trial.

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    Niraj, G; Kelkar, A; Hart, E; Horst, C; Malik, D; Yeow, C; Singh, B; Chaudhri, S

    2014-04-01

    Posterior transversus abdominis plane blocks have been reported to be an effective method of providing analgesia after lower abdominal surgery. We compared the efficacy of a novel technique of providing continuous transversus abdominis plane analgesia with epidural analgesia in patients on an enhanced recovery programme following laparoscopic colorectal surgery. A non-inferiority comparison was used. Adult patients undergoing elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery were randomly assigned to receive continuous transversus abdominis plane analgesia (n = 35) vs epidural analgesia (n = 35), in addition to a postoperative analgesic regimen comprising regular paracetamol, regular diclofenac and tramadol as required. Sixty-one patients completed the study. The transversus group received four-quadrant transversus abdominis plane blocks and bilateral posterior transversus abdominis plane catheters that were infused with levobupivacaine 0.25% for 48 h. The epidural group received an infusion of bupivacaine and fentanyl. The primary outcome measure was visual analogue scale pain score on coughing at 24 h after surgery. We found no significant difference in median (IQR [range]) visual analogue scores during coughing at 24 h between the transversus group 2.5 (1.0-3.0 [0-5.5]) and the epidural group 2.5 (1.0-5.0 [0-6.0]). The one-sided 97.5% CI was a 0.0 (∞-1.0) difference in means, establishing non-inferiority. There were no significant differences between the groups for tramadol consumption. Success rate was 28/30 (93%) in the transversus group vs 27/31 (87%) in the epidural group. Continuous transversus abdominis plane infusion was non-inferior to epidural infusion in providing analgesia after laparoscopic colorectal surgery. © 2013 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

  15. Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block in combination with ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric block in a high risk cardiac patient for inguinal hernia repair: a case report

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    BARISIN, STJEPAN; DUZEL, VIKTOR; SAKIC, LIVIJA

    2015-01-01

    Background and Purpose: A high risk cardiac patient, ASA IV, was planned for inguinal hernia repair. Since general anaesthesia presented a high risk, anaesthesia was conducted with a transversus abdominis plane (TAP) in combination with ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (ILIH) block. Material and Methods: A 70-year old male patient with severe CAD and previous LAD PTCA, AVR, in situ PPM and severe MR and TR 3+, was planned for elective inguinal hernia repair. The preoperative ECH...

  16. Bilateral transversus abdominis plane block as a sole anesthetic technique in emergency surgery for perforative peritonitis in a high risk patient

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    Lipi Mishra

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Although transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is an effective way of providing analgesia in post-operative abdominal surgery patients; however, it can be considered as an anesthetic technique in high-risk cases for surgery. We report a case of a geriatric female with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the respiratory failure, hypotension, posted in an emergency with old perforation leading to peritonitis. The surgery was successfully conducted under bilateral TAP block, which was used as a sole anesthetic technique. TAP block can be considered as an anesthetic technique for abdominal surgery in moribund patients.

  17. The analgesic efficacy of continuous transversus abdominis plane block in renal transplant recipients

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    Beena Kandarp Parikh

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is suitable for operations where parietal pain is a major cause of pain. Renal transplant recipients are ideally suited to gain maximum benefit from TAP block as the incision classically involves the lower abdomen. This study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of continuous TAP block in transplant recipients. Material and Methods: In a prospective double-blind study, 40 chronic renal failure patients undergoing open renal transplant were randomly divided into two groups. At the end of surgery during closure, a multiorifice epidural catheter was placed in TAP plane. Study group (Group S received Inj bupivacaine bolus 1 mg/kg (0.25% followed by infusion 0.25 mg/kg (0.125% through the catheter, whereas control group (Group C received normal saline through the catheter. Inj pentazocine (0.3 mg/kg was given as rescue analgesic at visual analogue score (VAS > 3 in any group at rest or on movement. The analgesic efficacy was judged by VAS, time of first rescue analgesic, and total analgesic consumption in 24 h. Results: Patients in Group S had significant lower VAS scores, longer time to first rescue analgesic (270 ± 347.96 vs. 42.85 ± 32.27 min and lower pentazocine consumption (9.75 ± 13.95 vs. 56.42 ± 12.46 mg in 24 h. There was significant sedation in Group C. Conclusion: The TAP catheter technique for postoperative pain control after renal transplant has proved to be effective in relieving the postoperative pain after renal transplant with less pentazocine requirement and less sedation.

  18. Transversus abdominis plane block: A multimodal analgesia technique – Our experience

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    Deepak Dwivedi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: A retrospective observational study conducted to assess transversus abdominis plane (TAP block as a tool for providing multimodal analgesia postoperatively for abdominal surgeries. Aims: The aim is to compare the visual analog scale (VAS of pain and the requirement of rescue analgesia postoperatively in patients undergoing various abdominal surgeries (open and laparoscopic where TAP block was given for postoperative analgesia and was compared with patients who received pain relief according to the institutional protocol. Settings and Design: Retrospective observational study conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Subjects and Methods: Retrospective data from anesthesia records of patients, who underwent abdominal surgeries from January 2016 to December 2016, were analyzed and were divided into two groups. Group A (n = 250 consisted of patients who received the conventional standard postoperative analgesia protocol of the department of anesthesia. Group B (n = 136 consisted of patients who were administered TAP block postsurgery for the postoperative analgesia by the trained anesthesiologist. Primary outcome considered was (i average VAS at 02, 06, 12, and 24 h and (ii average opioid/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug consumption at 24 h postoperatively. Secondary outcome considered was time to first rescue analgesia. Statistical Analysis: All parametric data were analyzed using unpaired t-test. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. A SPSS version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA was used for statistical analysis. Results: Average pain scores (VAS were lower in Group B as compared to Group A in all subcategories of surgery postoperatively. Patients given TAP block (Group B required less rescue analgesia in the postoperative period with time to first rescue analgesia being prolonged. Conclusions: On the basis of our retrospective study, we suggest that TAP block can be utilized as a part of multimodal analgesia regimen for

  19. Randomized clinical trial of transversus abdominis plane block versus placebo control in live-donor nephrectomy.

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    Hosgood, Sarah A; Thiyagarajan, Umasanker M; Nicholson, Harriet F L; Jeyapalan, Inthira; Nicholson, Michael L

    2012-09-15

    Laparoscopic surgery reduces pain after donor nephrectomy; however, most patients still require a significant amount of postoperative parenteral opiate analgesia. Therefore, there is a need to investigate techniques that might further reduce postoperative pain. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of using a transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Forty-six patients were analyzed in the trial and were randomized to undergo the TAP block procedure with either bupivacaine (n=24) or saline placebo (Control n=22) injected into the muscle plane. Prefilled syringes were dispensed with the group allocation concealed to maintain blinding. After surgery, the amount of morphine, level of pain, and measures of recovery were recorded. The amount of morphine used 6 hr after surgery was significantly lower in patients receiving TAP block with bupivacaine compared with the control (presented as mean [SD], 12.4 [8.4] vs. 21.2 [14.0] mg; P=0.015). However, the total amount of morphine used was similar in both groups 45.6 [31.4] vs. 52.7 [28.8] mg; P=0.771. Patients in the bupivacaine group experienced significantly less pain on postoperative days 1 (score, 19 [15] vs. 37 [20]; P=0.003) and 2 (score, 11 [10] vs. 19 [13]; P=0.031). Recovery and postoperative hospital stay were similar in both groups. There were no complications associated with the procedure. The TAP block procedure is beneficial in reducing postoperative pain and early morphine requirements in laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy.

  20. Ultrasound-guided subcostal-posterior transversus abdominis plane block for pain control following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

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    Dilek E. Arı

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To investigate the analgesic effect of a subcostal-posterior transversus abdominis plane (TAP block combination following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Methods: This study was conducted at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Educational and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, between March 2014 and June 2015. A total of 40 patients with a body mass index of 40-60 kg/m2 scheduled for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy were randomly allocated into 2 groups. Patients in Group I (n=20 received a bilateral subcostal TAP block, and patients in Group II (n=20 received a bilateral subcostal and posterior TAP block. Pain intensity was assessed at rest and during coughing using the visual analog scale (VAS prior to and at various time points after TAP block (0 min, 30 min, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours. Morphine consumption over 24 hours and time to first morphine requirement were recorded. Results: There was no difference in VAS scores between groups. Morphine consumption was 6.78±5.95 mg in Group I, and 7.28±5.95 mg in Group II (p=0.795. Time to first morphine requirement was 267.22±303.84 min for Group I, and 207.80±209.81 min for Group II (p=0.154. Conclusions: Subcostal-posterior TAP block provided equivalent analgesia to subcostal TAP block alone following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

  1. The effect of morphine added to bupivacaine in ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block for postoperative analgesia following lower abdominal cancer surgery, a randomized controlled study.

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    El Sherif, Fatma Adel; Mohamed, Sahar Abdel-Baky; Kamal, Shereen Mamdouh

    2017-06-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block used for management of surgical abdominal pain by injecting local anesthetics into the plane between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles. We aimed to explore the effect of adding morphine to bupivacaine in ultrasound guided TAP-block in patients undergoing lower abdominal cancer surgery. Randomized, double-blind, prospective study. Clinical trial identifier: NCT02566096. Academic medical center. Sixty patients were enrolled in this study after ethical committee approval. Patients divided into 2 groups (30 each): Bupivacaine group (GB): given ultrasound guided TAP-block 20ml 0.5% bupivacaine diluted in 20ml saline; Morphine group (GM): given ultrasound guided TAP-block with 20ml 0.5% bupivacaine+10mg morphine sulphate diluted in 20ml saline. Patients were observed for total morphine consumption, time for first request of rescue analgesia, sedation scores, hemodynamics and side effects for 24h postoperatively. Morphine added to bupivacaine in TAP block compared to bupivacaine alone reduced total morphine consumption (5.33±1.28mg) (10.70±3.09mg) respectively (p0.05). Addition of morphine to bupivacaine in TAP block is effective method for pain management in patients undergoing major abdominal cancer surgery without serious side effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. "Transversus Abdominis Plane Blocks in Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction: Analysis of Pain, Narcotic Consumption, Length of Stay and Cost."

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    Salibian, Ara A; Frey, Jordan D; Thanik, Vishal D; Karp, Nolan S; Choi, Mihye

    2018-06-02

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks are increasingly being utilized in microvascular breast reconstruction. The implications of TAP blocks on specific reconstructive, patient and institutional outcomes remain to be fully elucidated. Patients undergoing abdominally-based microvascular breast reconstruction from 2015-2017 were reviewed. Length of stay, complications, narcotic consumption, donor-site pain and hospital expenses were compared between patients that did and those that did not receive TAP blocks with liposomal bupivacaine. Outcomes were subsequently compared in patients with elevated body mass index (BMI). Fifty patients (43.9%) received TAP blocks (27 [54.0%] under ultrasound guidance) and 64 patients (56.1%) did not. Patients with TAP blocks had significantly decreased oral and total narcotic consumption (p=0.0001 and pconsumption and postoperative pain compared to patients without TAP blocks. Patients with BMIconsumption or length of stay between the TAP versus no TAP block groups. TAP blocks with liposomal bupivacaine significantly reduce oral and total postoperative narcotic consumption as well as donor-site pain in all patients after abdominally-based microvascular breast reconstruction without increasing hospital expenses. TAP blocks additionally significantly decrease length of stay in patients with BMI≥25.

  3. Transversus abdominis plane block reduces morphine consumption in the early postoperative period following microsurgical abdominal tissue breast reconstruction: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

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    Zhong, Toni; Ojha, M; Bagher, Shaghayegh; Butler, Kate; Srinivas, Coimbatore; McCluskey, Stuart A; Clarke, Hance; O'Neill, Anne C; Novak, Christine B; Hofer, Stefan O P

    2014-11-01

    The analgesic efficacy of the transversus abdominis plane peripheral nerve block following abdominal tissue breast reconstruction has not been studied in a randomized controlled trial. The authors conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 1:1 allocation, two-arm parallel group, superiority design, randomized controlled trial in patients undergoing microsurgical abdominally based breast reconstruction. Intraoperatively, epidural catheters were inserted under direct vision through the triangle of Petit on both sides of the abdomen into the transversus abdominis plane just before rectus fascial closure. Patients received either bupivacaine (study group) or saline (placebo group) through the catheters for 2 postoperative days. All patients received hydromorphone by means of a patient-controlled analgesic pump. The primary outcome was the difference in the parenteral opioid consumption on each postoperative day between the groups. The secondary outcome measures included the following: total in-hospital opioid; antinausea medication; pain, nausea, and sedation scores; Quality of Recovery Score; time to ambulation; and hospital stay duration. Between September of 2011 and June of 2013, 93 patients were enrolled: 49 received bupivacaine and 44 received saline. There were 11 postoperative complications (13 percent); none were related to the catheter. Primary outcomes were completed by 85 of 93 patients (91.3 percent); the mean parenteral morphine consumption was significantly reduced on postoperative day 1 in the bupivacaine group (20.7±20.1 mg) compared with 30.0±19.1 mg in the control group (p=0.02). There were no significant differences in secondary outcomes. Following abdominally based breast reconstruction, transversus abdominis plane peripheral nerve block is safe and significantly reduces morphine consumption in the early postoperative period. Therapeutic, II.

  4. Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Post Hysterectomy Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

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    Bacal, Vanessa; Rana, Urvi; McIsaac, Daniel I; Chen, Innie

    2018-04-30

    The objective of this study was to address the efficacy of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks in pain management among women who undergo elective hysterectomy for benign pathology in both open and minimally invasive surgeries. We performed a systematic review by searching for bibliographic citations from Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library. MeSH headings for TAP blocks and hysterectomy were combined and restricted to the English language. We included RCTs comparing TAP blocks to placebo or no block in patients who underwent elective hysterectomy. Pain was measured using a visual analog score (VAS) on a scale of 0-100. We calculated pooled mean differences in VAS and total morphine consumption at 2 and 24 hours by performing a random effects meta-analysis. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 855 participants. At 2 hours, mean VAS scores for patients who underwent TAP blocks were significantly lower after both total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) (mean difference -14.97 [CI: -20.35- -9.59]) and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) (-18.16 [CI: -34.78- -1.53]) compared to placebo or no block. Pain scores at 24 hours for patients who underwent TAPB were significantly lower after both TAH (-10.09 [CI: -17.35- -2.83]) and TLH (-9.12 [CI: -18.12- -0.13]) compared to placebo or no block. Mean difference in morphine consumption was -9.53 mg (CI -15.43- -3.63) for TAH and -3.15 mg (CI: -8.41- 2.12) for TLH. In conclusion, TAP blocks provide significant postoperative early and delayed pain control compared to placebo or no block among women who undergo hysterectomy. There was reduced morphine consumption among patients who underwent TAH, but not after TLH. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Continuous transversus abdominis plane block vs intermittent bolus for analgesia after abdominal surgery: a randomized trial

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    Rao Kadam V

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Vasanth Rao Kadam,1 Roelof M Van Wijk,1 John L Moran,2 Shantan Ganesh,3 A Kumar,1 Rajesh Sethi,1 Patricia Williams2,4 1Department of Anaesthesia, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 2Intensive Care Unit, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 3Department of Surgery, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 4Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Background: Continuous and intermittent bolus techniques of transversus abdominis plane (TAP blocks have been used for analgesia after abdominal surgery. Although both are effective, there are no studies comparing them. The aim of this study is to compare analgesia and cost-effectiveness between these groups.Methods: After obtaining ethical approval, 20 American Society of Anesthesiologists ASA grade I to III patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery were recruited with 10 patients allocated to each arm. Bilateral ultrasound-guided TAP blocks were performed with an initial bolus of 0.5% ropivacaine 20 mL per side, followed by catheter insertion. After surgery, the continuous infusion group received 0.2% ropivacaine 8 mL/hour on each side and the intermittent bolus group received doses of 0.2% ropivacaine 20 mL per side every 8 hours for 48 hours. Both groups received intravenous fentanyl patient-controlled analgesia and regular oral paracetamol. Parameters recorded included numerical rating scores for pain and post-operative analgesic consumption at baseline (time 0 and at 1 hour, 1 day and 2 days post-operatively. The duration of catheter insertion, complications, patient satisfaction and information regarding costs were also recorded. Patient satisfaction was assessed utilizing a 4-point

  6. Transversus abdominis plane block as a component of multimodal analgesia for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

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    Oksar, Menekse; Koyuncu, Onur; Turhanoglu, Selim; Temiz, Muhyittin; Oran, Mustafa Cemil

    2016-11-01

    To evaluate and compare intercostal-iliac transversus abdominis plane (TAP) and oblique subcostal TAP (OSTAP) blocks for multimodal analgesia in patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical study. Operating room, postoperative recovery area, and ward. In total, 60 laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients (43 women, 17 men, American Society of Anesthesiologists grades I-II) were enrolled from the general surgery department of our tertiary care center. The patients were assigned to 1 of the 3 groups. Group 1 received TAP blocks (n=20), group 2 received OSTAP blocks (n=20), and group 3 patients were used as controls and received patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) only (n=20). After the induction of anesthesia, blocks were performed bilaterally in study groups 1 and 2, using 20mL of lidocaine (5mg/mL). PCA with intravenous tramadol was routinely provided for all patients during the first 24hours. The intraoperative use of remifentanil, postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) scores, demand for PCA, and total analgesic consumption were recorded. The patients in the control group had greater analgesic demands and analgesic consumption than did those in groups 1 and 2. However, patients in the OSTAP group had lower VAS scores than did those in groups 1 and 3. The demand for analgesia was greater in the control group than in groups 1 and 2. Moreover, lower VAS scores were recorded in the OSTAP group than in groups 1 and 3 and were positively correlated with total PCA consumption among all patients. However, postoperative VAS scores were negatively correlated with the total intraoperative consumption of remifentanil at 24hours. TAP and OSTAP blocks improved postoperative analgesia in patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which resulted in lower VAS scores and reduction in total analgesic consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Efficacy of transverse abdominis plane block in reduction of postoperation pain in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

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    Saliminia, Alireza; Azimaraghi, Omid; Babayipour, Shiva; Ardavan, Kamelia; Movafegh, Ali

    2015-12-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a recently introduced regional anesthesia technique that is used for postoperative pain reduction in some abdominal surgeries. The present study evaluated the efficacy of the TAP block on the post laparoscopic cholecystectomy pain intensity and analgesic consumption. Fifty-four patients were enrolled in three groups: TAP block with normal saline (Group 1, n = 18); TAP block with bupivacaine (Group 2, n = 18); and TAP block with bupivacaine plus sufentanil (Group 3, n = 18). The time to the first fentanyl request, fentanyl consumption in the 24 hours following surgery, and postoperative pain intensity at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours following discharge for recovery were measured and recorded. The total amount of 24-hour fentanyl consumption was higher in Group 1 (877.8 ± 338.8 μg) than either Group 2 (566.7 ± 367.8 μg) or Group 3 (555.5 ± 356.8 μg; p = 0.03). Postoperative pain score was higher in Group 1 than intervention groups (p = 0.006); however, there was no significant difference in intervention groups. The time to the first fentanyl request in Group 1 (79.44 ± 42.2) was significantly lower than Group 3 (206.38 ± 112.7; p = 0.001). The present study demonstrated that bilateral TAP block with 0.5% bupivacaine reduces post laparoscopic cholecystectomy pain intensity and fentanyl request and prolongs time to the first analgesic request. Adding sufentanil to the block solution reduced neither pain intensity nor fentanyl further consumption. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  8. Ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane vs surgeon administered intraoperative regional field infiltration with bupivacaine for early postoperative pain control in children undergoing open pyeloplasty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenzo, Armando J; Lynch, Johanne; Matava, Clyde; El-Beheiry, Hossam; Hayes, Jason

    2014-07-01

    Regional analgesic techniques are commonly used in pediatric urology. Ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block has recently gained popularity. However, there is a paucity of information supporting a benefit over regional field infiltration. We present a parallel group, randomized, controlled trial evaluating ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block superiority over surgeon delivered regional field infiltration for children undergoing open pyeloplasty at a tertiary referral center. Following ethics board approval and registration, children 0 to 6 years old were recruited and randomized to undergo perioperative transversus abdominis plane block or regional field infiltration for early post-pyeloplasty pain control. General anesthetic delivery, surgical technique and postoperative analgesics were standardized. A blinded assessor regularly captured pain scores in the recovery room using the FLACC (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability) scale. The primary outcome was the need for rescue morphine administration based on a FLACC score of 3 or higher. Two pediatric urologists performed 57 pyeloplasties during a 2.5-year period, enrolling 32 children (16 in each group, balanced for age and weight). There were statistically significant differences in the number of children requiring rescue morphine administration (13 of 16 receiving transversus abdominis plane block and 6 of 16 receiving regional field infiltration, p = 0.011), mean ± SD total morphine consumption (0.066 ± 0.051 vs 0.028 ± 0.040 mg/kg, p = 0.021) and mean ± SD pain scores (5 ± 5 vs 2 ± 3, p = 0.043) in the recovery room, in favor of surgeon administered regional field infiltration. No local anesthetic specific adverse events were noted. Ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block is not superior to regional field infiltration with bupivacaine as a strategy to minimize early opioid requirements following open pyeloplasty in children. Instead, our data suggest that

  9. ULTRASOUND GUIDED TRANSVERSUS ABDOMINIS PLANE BLOCK VERSUS STANDARD ANALGESIC CARE FOR POSTOPERATIVE PAIN RELIEF FOLLOWING TOTAL ABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMY, AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

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    Elizabeth Joseph

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND The transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is a technique which blocks the sensory nerves supplying the anterior abdominal wall. This prospective cohort study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of TAP block for postoperative pain in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty patients of ASA Grade 1 and 2 undergoing open abdominal hysterectomy were prospectively allocated into Group A and Group B. Group A patients (n = 30, received ultrasound guided TAP block along with 1 gm paracetamol 8th hourly and tramadol 1 mg/ kg as rescue analgesic. Group B patients (n = 30 received standard analgesic care with 1 gm paracetamol 8th hourly and tramadol 1 mg/ kg as rescue analgesic. TAP block was performed on completion of surgery in Group A patients by instilling 20 ml of 0.25% levobupivacaine into the transversus abdominis plane on each side under ultrasound guidance. Postoperatively Verbal Numerical Rating Scale, Sedation score, Nausea categorical scoring scale at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours and total tramadol requirement in first 24 hours were assessed in each group. RESULTS Verbal Numerical Rating Scale score was significantly reduced in Group A compared to Group B at 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours postoperatively and there was no difference in scores 12 hours postoperatively. Nausea was significantly lower in Group A patients at 2, 4 and 6 hours postoperatively with no difference at 12 and 24 hours postoperatively. There was significant difference in the sedation scale at 4, 6 and 24 hours postoperatively and no difference between both groups at 2 hours and 12 hours postoperatively. Total tramadol requirement in first 24 hours postoperatively was significantly lower in Group A compared to Group B (60.83 ± 14.208 mg Vs. 121.67 ± 19.402 mg, P value< 0.00. CONCLUSION Ultrasound guided TAP block along with standard analgesic care provided better analgesia as compared to standard analgesic care alone in the first 24

  10. Transversus abdominis plane block vs. wound infiltration in Caesarean section: a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telnes, A; Skogvoll, E; Lonnée, H

    2015-04-01

    Multiple studies suggest that transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block (without intrathecal morphine) after Caesarean section (CS) reduces post-operative morphine consumption. In our study, we wanted to compare the analgesic effect of TAP block with infiltration of the wound after CS. We included 60 pregnant women scheduled for elective CS under spinal anaesthesia in a randomised, single-centre, double-blind study. Thirty patients received ultrasound-guided TAP block using 20 ml bupivacaine 0.25% with adrenaline 5 μg/ml bilaterally and 20 ml normal saline as wound infiltration (TAP group). The other 30 patients (the control group) received normal saline 20 ml bilaterally in the TAP, and 20 ml bupivacaine 0.25% with adrenaline 5 μg/ml as wound infiltration. The main outcome was cumulative morphine consumption at 48 h after surgery. In addition, continuous morphine consumption, pain scores and side effects were registered. Fifty-seven patients completed the study. Cumulative morphine consumption at 48 h (mean±standard deviation) was 41±34 mg in the TAP group and 38±27 mg in the control group (P=0.7); a difference of 3 mg (95% confidence interval -13 to 19 mg). Morphine consumption at any time up to 48 h was virtually identical in both groups. Side effects were similar, except for a higher degree of sedation in the TAP group (P=0.04). Compared with wound infiltration with local anaesthetics, TAP block did not reduce cumulative morphine consumption following CS. The TAP block was associated with more pronounced sedation. © 2015 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Evaluation of transversus abdominis plane block for renal transplant recipients - A meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of published studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Preet Mohinder; Borle, Anuradha; Makkar, Jeetinder Kaur; Trisha, Aanjan; Sinha, Aashish

    2018-01-01

    Patients undergoing renal transplant (RT) have altered drug/opioid pharmacokinetics. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in renal transplant recipients has been recently evaluated for analgesic and opioid-sparing potential by many trials. The studies comparing TAP-block to conventional analgesic regimens for RT were searched. Comparisons were made for total opioids consumed (as morphine-equivalents) during the first postoperative 24-h (primary objective), intraoperative, and immediate-postoperative period. Pain scores and postoperative nausea-vomiting (PONV) were also evaluated. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was used to quantify the strength of analysis. Ten-trials with 258 and 237 patients in control and TAP-block group, respectively, were included. TAP-block decreased the 24-h (reported in 9-trials) opioid consumption by 14.61 ± 4.34 mg (reduction by 42.7%, random-effects, P consumption also decreased by 2.06 ± 0.63 mg (reduction of 27.8%) (random effects, P consumption in RT recipients. Persistent and better pain control is achieved when TAP-Block is used. Benefits of TAP block extend beyond the analgesic actions alone as it also decreases the 24-h incidence of postoperative nausea vomiting as well. The technique of the block needs standardization for RT recipients.

  12. Efficiency of bupivacaine and association with dexmedetomidine in transversus abdominis plane block ultrasound guided in postoperative pain of abdominal surgery

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    Recep Aksu

    Full Text Available Abstract Background and objectives We aimed to evaluate the effect of bupivacaine and dexmedetomidine added to bupivacaine used in tranversus abdominis plane (TAP block on postoperative pain and patient satisfaction in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery. Methods Patients submitted to lower abdominal surgery were enrolled in the study. After anesthesia induction, ultrasound guided TAP block was performed. TAP block was obtained with 21 mL 0.9% saline in Group C (n = 31, 20 mL 0.5% bupivacaine + 1 mL saline in Group B (n = 31, and 20 mL 0.5% bupivacaine + 1 mL dexmedetomidine (100 µg in Group BD (n = 31. Results Visual analog scale scores were lower in Group BD compared to Group C, at all time points (p 0.05. Conclusions The addition of dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine on TAP block decreased postoperative pain scores and morphine consumption; it also increased patient satisfaction in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery. Dexmedetomidine did not have any effect on nausea and vomiting score and antiemetic requirement.

  13. Comparison of transversus abdominis plane block vs spinal morphine for pain relief after Caesarean section.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McMorrow, R C N

    2012-02-01

    BACKGROUND: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an alternative to spinal morphine for analgesia after Caesarean section but there are few data on its comparative efficacy. We compared the analgesic efficacy of the TAP block with and without spinal morphine after Caesarean section in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: Eighty patients were randomized to one of four groups to receive (in addition to spinal anaesthesia) either spinal morphine 100 microg (S(M)) or saline (S(S)) and a postoperative bilateral TAP block with either bupivacaine (T(LA)) 2 mg kg(-1) or saline (T(S)). RESULTS: Pain on movement and early morphine consumption were lowest in groups receiving spinal morphine and was not improved by TAP block. The rank order of median pain scores on movement at 6 h was: S(M)T(LA) (20 mm)block-improved analgesia after Caesarean section. The addition of TAP block with bupivacaine 2 mg kg(-1) to spinal morphine did not further improve analgesia.

  14. Transversus Abdominis Plane Versus Ilioinguinal and Iliohypogastric Nerve Blocks for Analgesia Following Open Inguinal Herniorrhaphy

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    Anatoli Stav

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Objectives We hypothesized that preoperative (pre-op ultrasound (US-guided posterior transversus abdominis plane block (TAP and US-guided ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block (ILI+IHG will produce a comparable analgesia after Lichtenstein patch tension-free method of open inguinal hernia repair in adult men. The genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve will be blocked separately. Methods This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, and observer-blinded clinical study. A total of 166 adult men were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a pre-op TAP group, a pre-op ILI+IHG group, and a control group. An intraoperative block of the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve was performed in all patients in all three groups, followed by postoperative patient-controlled intravenous analgesia with morphine. The pain intensity and morphine consumption immediately after surgery and during the 24 hours after surgery were compared between the groups. Results A total of 149 patients completed the study protocol. The intensity of pain immediately after surgery and morphine consumption were similar in the two “block” groups; however, they were significantly decreased compared with the control group. During the 24 hours after surgery, morphine consumption in the ILI+IHG group decreased compared with the TAP group, as well as in each “block” group versus the control group. Twenty-four hours after surgery, all evaluated parameters were similar. Conclusion Ultrasound-guided ILI+IHG provided better pain control than US-guided posterior TAP following the Lichtenstein patch tension-free method of open inguinal hernia repair in men during 24 hours after surgery. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT01429480.

  15. The efficacy of the semi-blind approach of transversus abdominis plane block on postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair: a prospective randomized double-blind study

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    Salman AE

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available A Ebru Salman,1 Fahri Yetisir,2 Banu Yürekli,3 Mustafa Aksoy,1 Murat Yildirim,2 Mehmet Kiliç21Anesthesiology and Reanimation Department, 2General Surgery Department, Atatürk Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; 3Endocrinology Department, Bozyaka Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, TurkeyPurpose: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind study, our aim was to compare the analgesic efficacy of the semi-blind approach of transversus abdominis plane (TAP block with a placebo block in patients undergoing unilateral inguinal hernia repair.Methods: After receiving hospital ethical committee approval and informed patient consents, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA I–III patients aged 18–80 were enrolled in the study. Standard anesthesia monitoring was applied to all patients. After premedication, spinal anesthesia was administered to all patients with 3.5 mL heavy bupivacaine at the L3-L4 subarachnoid space. Patients were randomly allocated into 2 groups. Group I (n = 32 received a placebo block with 20 mL saline, Group II (n = 32 received semi-blind TAP block with 0.25% bupivacaine in 20 mL with a blunt regional anesthesia needle into the neurofascial plane via the lumbar triangle of Petit near the midaxillary line before fascial closure. At the end of the operation, intravenous (IV dexketoprofen was given to all patients. The verbal analog scale (VAS was recorded at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours postoperatively. Paracetamol IV was given to patients if their VAS score > 3. A rescue analgesic of 0.05 mg/kg morphine IV was applied if VAS > 3. Total analgesic consumption and morphine requirement in 24 hours were recorded.Results: TAP block reduced VAS scores at all postoperative time points (P < 0.001. Postoperative analgesic and morphine requirement in 24 hours was significantly lower in group II (P < 0.01.Conclusion: Semi-blind TAP block provided effective analgesia, reducing total 24-hour postoperative analgesic

  16. Intravenous patient-controlled fentanyl with and without transversus abdominis plane block in cirrhotic patients post liver resection

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    Serag Eldin M

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Manar Serag Eldin,1 Fatma Mahmoud,1 Rabab El Hassan,2 Mohamed Abdel Raouf,1 Mohamed H Afifi,2 Khaled Yassen,1 Wesam Morad31Department of Anaesthesia, Liver Institute, 2Department of Anaesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, 3Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Liver Institute, Menoufiya University, Shebin El-Kom, EgyptBackground: Coagulation changes can complicate liver resection, particularly in patients with cirrhosis. The aim of this prospective hospital-based comparative study was to compare the postoperative analgesic efficacy of intravenous fentanyl patient-controlled analgesia (IVPCA with and without transversus abdominis plane (TAP block.Methods: Fifty patients with Child’s A cirrhosis undergoing liver resection were randomly divided into two groups for postoperative analgesia, ie, an IVPCA group receiving a 10 µg/mL fentanyl bolus of 15 µg with a 10-minute lockout and a maximum hourly dose of 90 µg, and an IVPCA + TAP group that additionally received TAP block (15 mL of 0.375% bupivacaine on both sides via a posterior approach with ultrasound guidance before skin incision. Postoperatively, bolus injections of bupivacaine 0.375% were given every 8 hours through a TAP catheter inserted by the surgeon in the open space during closure of the inverted L-shaped right subcostal with midline extension (subcostal approach guided by the visual analog scale score (<3, 5 mL; 3 to <6, 10 mL; 6–10, 15–20 mL according to weight (maximum 2 mg/kg. The top-up dosage of local anesthetic could be omitted if the patient was not in pain. Coagulation was monitored using standard coagulation tests.Results: Age, weight, and sex were comparable between the groups (P<0.05. The visual analog scale score was significantly lower at 12, 18, 24, 48, and 72 hours (P<0.01 in IVPCA + TAP group. The Ramsay sedation score was lower only after 72 hours in the IVPCA + TAP group when compared with the IVPCA group (1.57±0.74 versus 2.2±0.41, respectively, P

  17. [Efficiency of bupivacaine and association with dexmedetomidine in transversus abdominis plane block ultrasound guided in postoperative pain of abdominal surgery].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aksu, Recep; Patmano, Gülçin; Biçer, Cihangir; Emek, Ertan; Çoruh, Aliye Esmaoğlu

    We aimed to evaluate the effect of bupivacaine and dexmedetomidine added to bupivacaine used in tranversus abdominis plane (TAP) block on postoperative pain and patient satisfaction in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery. Patients submitted to lower abdominal surgery were enrolled in the study. After anesthesia induction, ultrasound guided TAP block was performed. TAP block was obtained with 21mL 0.9% saline in Group C (n=31), 20mL 0.5% bupivacaine+1mL saline in Group B (n=31), and 20mL 0.5% bupivacaine+1mL dexmedetomidine (100μg) in Group BD (n=31). Visual analog scale scores were lower in Group BD compared to Group C, at all time points (pconsumption was lower in Group BD compared to other groups and lower in group B than in the controls (p0.05). The addition of dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine on TAP block decreased postoperative pain scores and morphine consumption; it also increased patient satisfaction in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery. Dexmedetomidine did not have any effect on nausea and vomiting score and antiemetic requirement. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  18. A randomised controlled trial investigating the analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block for adult laparoscopic appendicectomy.

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    Tupper-Carey, Darell Alexander; Fathil, Shahridan Mohd; Tan, Yin Kiat Glenn; Kan, Yuk Man; Cheong, Chern Yuen; Siddiqui, Fahad Javaid; Assam, Pryseley Nkouibert

    2017-08-01

    We conducted a single-centre, prospective randomised clinical trial to investigate the analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in adult patients undergoing laparoscopic appendicectomy. Patients undergoing urgent laparoscopic appendicectomy under general anaesthesia alone (control group) and general anaesthesia supplemented by TAP block (TAP intervention group) were compared. All patients received a multimodal analgesia regime, which included postoperative morphine via a patient-controlled analgesia device. The primary endpoints were morphine consumption at 12 hours and 24 hours postoperatively. Secondary endpoints included pain scores, incidence of nausea and vomiting, and time to hospital discharge. A total of 58 patients were recruited, with 29 patients in each group. Mean postoperative morphine consumption at 12 hours (control group: 11.45 ± 7.64 mg, TAP intervention group: 9.79 ± 8.09 mg; p = 0.4264) and 24 hours (control group: 13.38 ± 8.72 mg, TAP intervention group: 11.31 ± 8.66 mg; p = 0.3686) for the control and TAP intervention groups were not statistically different. Secondary outcomes were also not different between the two groups. Length of stay in the post-anaesthesia care unit was significantly shorter for the TAP intervention group, with a trend toward faster hospital discharge being observed. TAP block, a regional anaesthetic procedure performed immediately prior to skin incision for laparoscopic appendicectomy, did not significantly improve postoperative analgesia outcomes. Copyright: © Singapore Medical Association

  19. Efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block with liposomal bupivacaine during open abdominal wall reconstruction.

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    Fayezizadeh, Mojtaba; Majumder, Arnab; Neupane, Ruel; Elliott, Heidi L; Novitsky, Yuri W

    2016-09-01

    Transversus abdominis plane block (TAPb) is an analgesic adjunct used for abdominal surgical procedures. Liposomal bupivacaine (LB) demonstrates prolonged analgesic effects, up to 72 hours. We evaluated the analgesic efficacy of TAPb using LB for patients undergoing open abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR). Fifty patients undergoing AWR with TAPb using LB (TAP-group) were compared with a matched historical cohort undergoing AWR without TAPb (control group). Outcome measures included postoperative utilization of morphine equivalents, numerical rating scale pain scores, time to oral narcotics, and length of stay (LOS). Cohorts were matched demographically. No complications were associated with TAPb or LB. TAP-group evidenced significantly reduced narcotic requirements on operative day (9.5 mg vs 16.5 mg, P = .004), postoperative day (POD) 1 (26.7 mg vs 39.5 mg, P = .01) and POD2 (29.6 mg vs 40.7 mg, P = .047) and pain scores on operative day (5.1 vs 7.0, P consumption and improved pain control. TAPb allowed for earlier discontinuation of intravenous narcotics and shorter LOS. Intraoperative TAPb with LB appears to be an effective adjunct for perioperative analgesia in patients undergoing open AWR. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. The analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block on postoperative pain and morphine consumption in varicocelectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ömür, Dilek; Oğuzalp, Hüseyin; Kiraz, Hasan A; Ekin, Serpil; Alan, Cabir; Ersay, Ahmet R; Hancı, Volkan

    2016-06-01

    To evaluate the analgesic effect of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block administered before varicocele surgery. This study was completed at the Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey, between January 2011 and April 2013. In a prospective, double blind, randomized, placebo controlled clinical study, 40 male patients scheduled for elective varicocele operations were randomized to group T (treatment group) or group C (controls). After receiving general anesthesia, group T received a TAP block using 20 mL 0.25% bupivacaine on the operation side, whereas group C received a control block using 20 mL 0.9% Sodium chloride. During the first 24 hours after surgery, the patient pain was evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS) at rest and while coughing. Postoperative patient controlled analgesia morphine consumption, VAS scores, and side effects were recorded. Of 34 patients, Group T (n=18) had significantly lower VAS pain scores than Group C (n=16) both at rest and while coughing. The total morphine consumed was  lower (7.7 ± 4.0) versus 21.6 ± 12.4 mg, p less than 0.001) in the 24 hours after surgery. As part of a multimodal analgesic regime after varicocelectomy surgery, morphine consumption and VAS pain scores were significantly lower among those receiving 20 mL 0.25% bupivacaine administered for a TAP block than among controls.

  1. Transversus abdominis plane block reduces postoperative pain intensity and analgesic consumption in elective cesarean delivery under general anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eslamian, Laleh; Jalili, Zorvan; Jamal, Ashraf; Marsoosi, Vajiheh; Movafegh, Ali

    2012-06-01

    It is reported that following abdominal surgery, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block can reduce postoperative pain. The primary outcome of this study was the evaluation of the efficacy of TAP block on pain intensity following cesarean delivery with Pfannenstiel incision. Fifty pregnant women were randomized blindly to receive either a TAP block with 15 ml 0.25% bupivacaine in both sides (group T, n = 25) or no blockade (group C, n = 25) at the end of the surgery, which was performed with a Pfannenstiel incision under general anesthesia. The pain intensity in the patients was assessed by a blinded investigator at the time of discharge from recovery and at 6, 12, and 24 h postoperatively, with a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain. The women in the TAP block group had significantly lower VAS pain scores at rest and during coughing and consumed significantly less tramadol than the women in group C [50 mg (0-150) vs. 250 mg (0-400), P = 0.001]. There was a significantly longer time to the first request for analgesic in the TAP block group [210 min (0-300) vs. 30 min (10-180) in group C, P = 0.0001]. Two-sided TAP block with 0.25% bupivacaine in parturients who undergo cesarean section with a Pfannenstiel incision under general anesthesia can decrease postoperative pain and analgesic consumption. The time to the first analgesic rescue was longer in the parturients who received the TAP block.

  2. Postoperative analgesic efficiency of transversus abdominis plane block after ventral hernia repair: a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

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    Chesov, Ion; Belîi, Adrian

    2017-10-01

    Effective postoperative analgesia is a key element in reducing postoperative morbidity, accelerating recovery and avoiding chronic postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block, performed before surgical incision, in providing postoperative analgesia for patients undergoing open ventral hernia repair under general anaesthesia. Seventy elective patients scheduled for open ventral hernia repair surgery under general anaesthesia were divided randomly into two equal groups: Group I received bilateral TAP block performed before surgical incision (n = 35); Group II received systemic postoperative analgesia with parenteral opioid (morphine) alone (n = 35). Postoperatively pain scores at rest and with movement, total morphine consumption and opioid related side effects were recorded. Postoperative pain scores at rest and mobilization/cough were significantly higher in patients without TAP block (p consumption was comparable between the two groups: 0.75 ± 0.31 mg in group I (TAP) and 0.86 ± 0.29 mg in group II (MO), p = 0.1299. Patients undergoing preincisional TAP block had reduced morphine requirements during the first 24 hours after surgery, compared to patients from group II, without TAP block (p = 0.0001). There was no difference in the incidence of opioid related side effects (nausea, vomiting) in the both groups during the first 24 postoperative hours. The use of preincisional ultrasound guided TAP block reduced the pain scores at rest and with movement/cough, opioid consumption and opioid-related side effects after ventral hernia repair when compared with opioid-only analgesia.

  3. Levobupivacaine-dextran mixture for transversus abdominis plane block and rectus sheath block in patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy: a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamada, T; Tsuchiya, M; Mizutani, K; Takahashi, R; Muguruma, K; Maeda, K; Ueda, W; Nishikawa, K

    2016-04-01

    We performed a randomised controlled double-blinded study of patients having laparoscopic colectomy with bilateral transversus abdominis plane block plus rectus sheath block, comparing a control group receiving 80 ml levobupivacaine 0.2% in saline with a dextran group receiving 80 ml levobupivacaine 0.2% in 8% low-molecular weight dextran. Twenty-seven patients were studied in each group. The mean (SD) maximum plasma concentration of levobupivacaine in the control group (1410 (322) ng.ml(-1) ) was higher than the dextran group (1141 (287) ng.ml(-1) ; p = 0.004), and was reached more quickly (50.6 (30.2) min vs 73.2 (24.6) min; p = 0.006). The area under the plasma concentration-time curve from 0 min to 240 min in the control group (229,124 (87,254) ng.min.ml(-1) ) was larger than in the dextran group (172,484 (50,502) ng.min.ml(-1) ; p = 0.007). The median (IQR [range]) of the summated numerical pain rating score at rest during the first postoperative 24 h in the control group (16 (9-20 [3-31]) was higher than in the dextran group (8 (2-11 [0-18]); p = 0.0001). In this study, adding dextran to levobupivacaine decreased the risk of levobupivacaine toxicity while providing better analgesia. © 2016 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

  4. A Comparative Study of Analgesic Efficacy of Intrathecal Buprenorphine with Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Postcesarean Delivery Analgesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marappa, Prakash; Chikkapillappa, Manjunath Abloodu; Chennappa, Nagaraj Mungasuvalli; Pujari, Vinayak Seenappa

    2017-01-01

    Women undergoing cesarean (CS) delivery present a unique set of challenges to the anesthetist in terms of postoperative pain management. This study was conducted to compare the analgesic efficacy of intrathecal buprenorphine (ITB) with ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in post-CS delivery pain. A prospective randomized comparative study of sixty American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II pregnant patients divided into two groups of thirty each as ITB group and TAP block group after satisfying the inclusion criteria. In the present study, demographic data were comparable between both groups. The time to first analgesic request was significantly longer in ITB group (389.67 ± 90.78 min) compared to TAP group (669.17 ± 140.65 min) and was statistically significant, P consumption in the first 24 h was higher in the TAP group (3.5 g) compared to the ITB group (1.13 g) and was statistically significant, P consumption during the first 24 h. The benefits of neuraxial opiates are significant and far outweigh the side effects.

  5. The efficacy of oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy - a prospective, placebo controlled study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breazu, Caius Mihai; Ciobanu, Lidia; Hadade, Adina; Bartos, Adrian; Mitre, Călin; Mircea, Petru Adrian; Ionescu, Daniela

    2016-04-01

    Pain control after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy can represent a challenge, considering the side effects due to standard analgesia methods. Recently the transversus abdominis plane block (TAP Block) has been used as a part of multimodal analgesia with promising results. The subcostal approach (OSTAP Block), a variant on the TAP block, produces reliable unilateral supraumbilical analgesia. This study evaluated the efficacy of the OSTAP block with bupivacaine in laparoscopic cholecystectomy compared with the placebo OSTAP block. Sixty ASA I/II adult patients listed for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly allocated in one of two groups: Group A (OSTAP placebo) received preoperatively bilateral OSTAP block with sterile normal saline and Group B (OSTAP bupivacaine) received bilateral preoperatively OSTAP block with the same volumes of 0.25% bupivacaine. Twenty-four hours postoperative opioid consumption, the dose of opioid required during surgery, opioid dose in the recovery unit (PACU) and PACU length of stay were evaluated. The quality of analgesia was assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at specific interval hours during 24 h, at rest and with movement. The mean intraoperative opioid consumption showed a significant difference between the two groups, (385 ± 72.52 mg in group A vs 173.67 ± 48.60 mg in group B, p consumption showed a statistically significant difference between groups (32 ± 26.05 mg vs 79 ± 16.68 mg, p < 0.001). PACU length of stay was significantly lower for group B patients compared with group A patients (20.67 ± 11.27 min vs 41.67 ± 12.41 min, p < 0.001). The OSTAP bupivacaine group had a statistically significant lower pain score than the OSTAP placebo group at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24 h, both at rest and with movement. No signs or symptoms of local anaesthetic systemic toxicity or other complications were detected. OSTAP block with bupivacaine 0.25% can provide effective analgesia up to 24 hours after laparoscopic

  6. Comparative study between ultrasound guided TAP block and paravertebral block in upper abdominal surgeries

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    Ruqaya M Elsayed Goda

    2017-01-01

    Conclusion: We concluded that ultrasound guided transverses abdominis plane block and thoracic paravertebral block were safe and effective anesthetic technique for upper abdominal surgery with longer and potent postoperative analgesia in thoracic paravertebral block than transverses abdominis block.

  7. Effect of Transversus Abdominis Plane Block on Postoperative Pain after Colorectal Surgery: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lin; Xie, Yan-Hu; Zhang, Wei; Chai, Xiao-Qing

    2018-01-01

    To assess the analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in patients undergoing colorectal surgery (CRS). The databases of PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Embase were searched, and randomized controlled studies (RCTs) that compared TAP block to control for relief of postoperative pain in patients who underwent CRS were included. Outcomes, including postoperative pain at rest and with movement, morphine use, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and the length of hospital stay, were analyzed using STATA software. The weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) or relative risk with 95% CI were used to present the strength of associations. A total of 7 RCTs with 511 patients were included. The results of this study suggested that TAP block significantly relieved postoperative pain during postanesthetic recovery after CRS at rest and during movement (WMDs were -0.98 [95% CI -1.57 to -0.38] and -0.68 [-1.07 to -0.30], respectively), and also decreased pain intensity during movement 24 h after CRS (WMD: -0.57 [95% CI -1.06 to -0.08]). TAP block significantly reduced opioid consumption within 24 h when compared to controls, with a WMD of 15.66 (95% CI -23.93 to -7.39). However, TAP block did not shorten the length of hospital stay. TAP block was an effective approach for relief of postoperative pain and reduced postoperative consumption of morphine. More RCTs with large sample sizes are required to confirm these findings. © 2018 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

  8. Efficacy of Bilateral Transversus Abdominis Plane and Ilioinguinal-Iliohypogastric Nerve Blocks for Postcaesarean Delivery Pain Relief under Spinal Anesthesia

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    Seid Adem Ahemed

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Caesarean delivery can be associated with considerable postoperative pain. While the benefits of transversus abdominis plane (TAP and ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (II-IH nerve blocks on pain after caesarean delivery via Pfannenstiel incision have been demonstrated, no enough investigations on the comparison of these blocks on pain after caesarean delivery have been conducted in our setup. Method. An institutional-based prospective observational cohort study was conducted to compare the analgesic efficacy of those blocks. We observed 102 postoperative parturients. The outcome measure was the severity of pain measured using a numeric rating scale. Result. Twenty-four hours after surgery, the NRS score at rest was (0.90 ± 0.80 versus (0.67 ± 0.58 and at movement (1.2 ± 1.07 versus (0.88 ± 0.76 for the TAP and II-IH groups, respectively. Twenty-four hours after surgery, the mean tramadol consumption was (55.45 ± 30.51 versus (37.27 ± 27.09 mg in TAP and II-IH groups, respectively (p = 0.009. The mean first analgesic requirement time was also prolonged in the II-IH group. Conclusion and Recommendations. There was no statically significant difference between TAP and II-IH blocks regarding postoperative pain score, but the II-IH block significantly reduced the total tramadol consumption and prolonged the time to first analgesic request than TAP. Thus, we recommend the II-IH nerve block.

  9. Analgesic effects of ultrasound-guided transverse abdominis plane block using different volumes and concentrations of local analgesics after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Şahin, Ayça Sultan; Ay, Necmiye; Şahbaz, Nuri Alper; Akay, Mehlika Kocabaş; Demiraran, Yavuz; Derbent, Abdurrahim

    2017-02-01

    Objective To evaluate the effects of an ultrasound-guided transverse abdominis plane (US-TAP) block used for postoperative pain relief by comparing the efficacy of two different volumes/concentrations of the local anaesthetic bupivacaine in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Methods This randomized study enrolled patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomies. They were randomized to two groups: group A received a 20 ml US-TAP block (50 mg bupivacaine +10 ml saline solution) and group B received a 30 ml US-TAP block (50 mg bupivacaine + 20 ml saline solution). The intraoperative consumption of remifentanil, the requirement for postoperative rescue analgesics, patient satisfaction scores, postoperative complications, and postoperative pain as measured by a visual analogue scale at 20 min, 12 h, and 24 h were recorded. Results A total of 60 patients enrolled in the study. There were no differences between the two groups with respect to demographic characteristics, duration of anaesthesia and patient satisfaction scores. The intraoperative consumption of remifentanil, postoperative VAS scores (20 min, 12 h and 24 h) and the requirement for postoperative analgesics were all significantly lower in group B who received a larger volume but a lower concentration of local anaesthetic solution compared with group A. Conclusion A US-TAP block can form part of a balanced postoperative analgesic regimen following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

  10. The analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for retroperitoneoscopic donor nephrectomy: A randomized controlled study

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    Beena K Parikh

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is suitable for lower abdominal surgeries. Blind TAP block has many complications and uncertainty of its effects. Use of ultrasonography increases the safety and efficacy. This study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound (USG-guided TAP block for retroperitoneoscopic donor nephrectomy (RDN. Methods: In a prospective randomized double-blind study, 60 patients undergoing laparoscopic donor nephrectomy were randomly divided into two groups by closed envelope method. At the end of surgery, USG-guided TAP block was given to the patients of both the groups. Study group (group S received inj. Bupivacaine (0.375%, whereas control group (group C received normal saline. Inj. Tramadol (1 mg/kg was given as rescue analgesic at visual analog scale (VAS more than 3 in any group at rest or on movement. The analgesic efficacy was judged by VAS both at rest and on movement, time to first dose of rescue analgesic, cumulative dose of tramadol, sedation score, and nausea score, which were also noted at 30 min, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h postoperatively. Total tramadol consumption at 24 h was also assessed. Results: Patients in group S had significantly lower VAS score, longer time to first dose of rescue analgesic (547.13±266.96 min vs. 49.17±24.95 min and lower tramadol consumption (103.8±32.18 mg vs. 235.8±47.5 mg in 24 h. Conclusion: The USG-guided TAP block is easy to perform and effective as a postoperative analgesic regimen in RDN, with opioids-sparing effect and without any complications.

  11. The analgesic efficacy of subcostal transversus abdominis plane block with Mercedes incision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Jian-Guo; Li, Hui-Ling; Pei, Qing-Qing; Feng, Zhi-Ying

    2018-04-10

    Conventional perioperative analgesic modalities (e.g. opioids, epidural analgesia) have their own drawbacks, which limit their clinical application. This study investigated the opioid-sparing effectsof the oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane (OSTAP) blockade with ropivacaine for the patients undergoing open liver resection with a Mercedes incision. 126 patients who were scheduled for open liver resection were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive bilateral ultrasound-guided OSTAPblocks with either 0.375% ropivacaine (groupT) or 0.9% isotonic saline (group C). Both groups also received intravenous patient-controlled analgesia and intravenous 40 mg parecoxib every 12 h for a total of 3 days. Preoperative and intraoperative parameters, plus intraoperative and postoperative cumulative sufentanil consumption, were recorded. 70 patients were enrolled in the study finally. There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to preoperative parameters, and surgical and anesthetic characteristics. The intraoperative sufentanil use, cumulative sufentanil consumption at 5 min after extubation, 2 h, 4 h,12 h and 24 h after operation in group T was significantly less than that in group C (P = 0.001, 0.001, 0.000, 0.000, 0.001 and 0.044, respectively). Compared with group C, postoperative NRS pain scores at rest were significantly lower at 2 h and 4 h postoperatively in group T (P = 0.04and 0.02, respectively); NRS scores at the time of coughing were also significantly lower in group T than in group C at all time points except 5 min after extubation (all P < 0.001). Furthermore, compared with group C, the number of intraoperative vasodilator use, the extubation time and the incidence of nausea was reduced in group T. Ultrasound-guided OSTAP block with ropivacaine can significantly decrease the perioperative cumulative dosage of analgesics and improve analgesic effect without obvious side

  12. Effect of adding dexamethasone to bupivacaine on transversus abdominis plane block for abdominal hysterectomy: A prospective randomized controlled trial

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    Amany S Ammar

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Different adjuvants have been used to improve the quality and increase the duration of local anesthetics during various nerve block techniques. The current study was aimed to evaluate the effect of adding dexamethasone to bupivacaine on the quality and duration of transversus abdominis plane (TAP block. Methods: Sixty adult patients undergoing elective open abdominal hysterectomy were randomly allocated to receive TAP block using 20 mL of bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.25% + 2 mL saline 0.9% (control group, n=30 or 20 mL of bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.25% + 2 mL dexamethasone "8 mg" (dexamethasone group, n=30. The primary outcome was postoperative pain, as evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS for pain scoring at 1, 2, 4, 12, 24 and 48 h postoperatively, whereas the secondary outcomes were time to first analgesia (TFA, morphine consumption and the occurrence of nausea, vomiting or somnolence. Results: The pain VAS score was significantly lower at the postoperative 2 h (4.9 vs. 28.1, P=0.01, 4 h (12.2 vs. 31.1, P=0.01 and 12 h (15.7 vs. 25.4, P=0.02. Furthermore, TFA was significantly longer in the dexamethasone group (459.8 vs. 325.4 min, P=0.002, with lesser morphine requirements in the postoperative 48 h (4.9 vs. 21.2 mg, P=0.003 and lower incidence of nausea and vomiting (6 vs. 14, P=0.03. No complications attributed to the block were recorded. Conclusion: Addition of dexamethasone to bupivacaine in TAP block prolonged the duration of the block and decreased the incidence of nausea and vomiting.

  13. Comparative study between ultrasound guided tap block and paravertebral block in upper abdominal surgeries. Randomized controlled trial

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    Ruqaya M. Elsayed

    2017-01-01

    Conclusion: We concluded that ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block and thoracic paravertebral block were safe and effective anesthetic technique for upper abdominal surgery with longer and potent postoperative analgesia in thoracic paravertebral block than transversus abdominis block.

  14. A randomised controlled trial of bilateral dual transversus abdominis plane blockade for laparoscopic appendicectomy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tanggaard, K; Jensen, K; Lenz, K

    2015-01-01

    We investigated the effects of pre-operative ultrasound-guided bilateral dual transversus abdominis plane blocks on pain when sitting up and pain at rest after laparoscopic appendicectomy. We allocated 28 participants to injection with 60 ml ropivacaine 0.375% and 28 participants to 60 ml isotonic...... saline. The median (IQR [range]) cumulative pain scores during the first 12 postoperative hours were less after ropivacaine than saline (maximum 120): on sitting, 34 (19-46 [0-59]) vs 50 (30-59 [0-97]), respectively, p = 0.009; and at rest, 25 (10-33 [0-49]) vs 31 (24-43 [0-72]), respectively, p = 0...

  15. Comparison of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block with bupivacaine and ropivacaine as adjuncts for postoperative analgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomies

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    Shradha Sinha

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is a popular technique for post-operative analgesia in abdominal surgeries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relative efficacy of bupivacaine versus ropivacaine for post-operative analgesia using ultrasound-guided TAP block in laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Methods: Sixty adults undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomised to receive ultrasound-guided TAP block at the end of the surgical procedure with either 0.25% bupivacaine (Group I, n = 30 or 0.375% ropivacaine (Group II, n = 30. All patients were assessed for post-operative pain and rescue analgesic consumption at 10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h time points. Means for normally distributed data were compared using Student′s t-test, and proportions were compared using Chi-square or Fisher′s exact test whichever was applicable. Results: Patients receiving ultrasound-guided TAP block with ropivacaine (Group II had significantly lower pain scores when compared to patients who received the block with bupivacaine (Group I at 10 min, 30 min and 1 h. However, both the drugs were equivalent for post-operative analgesia and 24 h cumulative rescue analgesic requirement (median [interquartile range] (75.00 [75.00-75.00] in Group I vs. 75.00 [75.00-93.75] in Group II, P = 0.366. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided TAP block with ropivacaine provides effective analgesia in the immediate post-operative period up to 1 h as compared to bupivacaine. However, both the drugs are similar in terms of 24 h cumulative rescue analgesic requirement.

  16. Transversus Abdominis Plane Block Versus Wound Infiltration for Analgesia After Cesarean Delivery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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    Tawfik, Mohamed Mohamed; Mohamed, Yaser Mohamed; Elbadrawi, Rania Elmohamadi; Abdelkhalek, Mostafa; Mogahed, Maiseloon Mostafa; Ezz, Hanaa Mohamed

    2017-04-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and local anesthetic wound infiltration provide analgesia after cesarean delivery. Studies comparing the 2 techniques are scarce, with conflicting results. This double-blind, randomized controlled trial aimed to compare bilateral ultrasound-guided TAP block with single-shot local anesthetic wound infiltration for analgesia after cesarean delivery performed under spinal anesthesia. We hypothesized that the TAP block would decrease postoperative cumulative fentanyl consumption at 24 hours. Eligible subjects were American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status II parturients with full-term singleton pregnancies undergoing elective cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia. Exclusion criteria were: 40 years of age; height consumption at 24 hours. Secondary outcomes were the time to the first postoperative fentanyl dose, cumulative fentanyl consumption at 2, 4, 6, and 12 hours, pain scores at rest and on movement at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours, the deepest level of sedation, the incidence of side effects (nausea and vomiting and pruritis), and patient satisfaction. Data from 78 patients (39 patients in each group) were analyzed. The mean ± SD of cumulative fentanyl consumption at 24 hours was 157.4 ± 63.4 μg in the infiltration group and 153.3 ± 68.3 μg in the TAP group (difference in means [95% confidence interval] is 4.1 [-25.6 to 33.8] μg; P = .8). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the time to the first postoperative fentanyl dose, cumulative fentanyl consumption at 2, 4, 6, and 12 hours, pain scores at rest and on movement at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours, the deepest level of sedation, and patient satisfaction. The incidence of side effects (nausea and vomiting and pruritis) was low in the 2 groups. TAP block and wound infiltration did not significantly differ regarding postoperative fentanyl consumption, pain scores, and patient satisfaction in parturients undergoing cesarean delivery under

  17. Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia in living liver donors: A prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial.

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    Kıtlık, Arzu; Erdogan, Mehmet Ali; Ozgul, Ulku; Aydogan, Mustafa Said; Ucar, Muharrem; Toprak, Huseyin Ilksen; Colak, Cemil; Durmus, Mahmut

    2017-02-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a peripheral nerve block that reduces postoperative pain, nausea, vomiting and the need for postoperative opioids following various types of abdominal surgery. The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of TAP block on postoperative analgesia and opioid consumption in living liver donors in whom a right "J" abdominal incision was used. This prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled study was conducted with 50 living liver donors, aged 18-65years, who were scheduled to undergo right hepatectomy. Patients who received ultrasonography-guided subcostal TAP block were allocated into Group 1, and patients who did not receive TAP block were allocated into Group 2. The TAP blocks were performed bilaterally at the conclusion of surgery using 1.5mg∗kg -1 bupivacaine diluted with saline to reach a total volume of 40mL. For each patient, morphine consumption, pain scores at rest and movement, sedation scores, nausea, vomiting and the need for antiemetic medication were assessed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24h postoperatively by researchers who were blinded to the study groups. Morphine consumption was significantly lower in Group 1 than in Group 2 at the 2nd, 6th and 24th hours (Pconsumption values after 24h were 40mg and 65mg in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. The TAP block significantly reduced postoperative visual analog scale pain scores both at rest and during movement at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 24h postoperatively (Pconsumption and contributed to analgesia in living liver donors who underwent upper abdominal wall incisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. A comparative study to evaluate ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block versus ilioinguinal iliohypogastric nerve block for post-operative analgesia in adult patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamal, Kirti; Jain, Parul; Bansal, Teena; Ahlawat, Geeta

    2018-04-01

    Both transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and combined ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (IIN/IHN) blocks are used routinely under ultrasound (USG) guidance for postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery. This study compares USG guided TAP Vs IIN/IHN block for post-operative analgesic efficacy in adults undergoing inguinal hernia surgery. Sixty adults aged 18 to 60 with American Society of Anesthesiologsts' grade I or II were included. After general anaesthesia, patients in Group I received USG guided unilateral TAP block using 0.75% ropivacaine 3 mg/kg (maximum 25 mL) and those in Group II received IIN/IHN block using 10 mL 0.75% ropivacaine. Postoperative rescue analgesia was with tramadol (intravenous) IV ± diclofenac IV in the first 4 h followed by oral diclofenac subsequently. Total analgesic consumption in the first 24 h was the primary objective, intraoperative haemodynamics, number of attempts and time required for performing the block as well as the postoperative pain scores were also evaluated. Time to first analgesic request was 319.8 ± 115.2 min in Group I and 408 ± 116.4 min in Group II ( P = 0.005). Seven patients (23.33%) in Group I and two (6.67%) in Group II required tramadol in first four hours. No patient in either groups received diclofenac IV. The average dose of tablet diclofenac was 200 ± 35.96 mg in Group I and 172.5 ± 34.96 mg in Group II ( P = 0. 004). USG guided IIN/IHN block reduces the postoperative analgesic requirement compared to USG guided TAP block.

  19. Magnesium sulphate as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block in patients scheduled for total abdominal hysterectomy under subarachnoid block

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    Shelly Rana

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block has proven to be an effective component of multimodal analgesic regimens for a variety of abdominal procedures. Magnesium sulphate (MgSO4 N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist has the potential to be an ideal adjuvant in TAP block. We studied the efficacy of MgSO4as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in TAP block in patients scheduled for total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH under subarachnoid block (SAB. Methods: Sixty-five women belonging to American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 1 or 2, aged between 35 and 70 years, scheduled for TAH under SAB were recruited. Patients in Group B (n = 32 received 18 mL 0.25% bupivacaine (45 mg with 2 mL normal saline (NS, whereas those in Group BM (n = 33 received 18 mL 0.25% bupivacaine (45 mg with 1.5 mL (150 mg MgSO4and 0.5 mL NS in the ultrasound (USG-guided TAP block performed on each side after the completion of the surgery under SAB. They were evaluated for pain at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h, time to first rescue analgesic and duration of postoperative analgesia were noted. Results: The post-operative visual analogue scale (VAS scores were lower in Group BM at 4, 6 and 12 h (P < 0.05. Mean duration of analgesia was significantly prolonged in Group BM with lesser requirement of rescue analgesic (P < 0.05 up to 12 h. Conclusion: MgSO4 (150 mg as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in USG-guided TAP block reduces post-operative pain scores, prolongs the duration of analgesia and decreases demands for rescue analgesics.

  20. High-dose versus low-dose local anaesthetic for transversus abdominis plane block post-Caesarean delivery analgesia: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, S C; Habib, A S; Sodha, S; Carvalho, B; Sultan, P

    2018-02-01

    The optimal local-anaesthetic (LA) dose for transversus-abdominis-plane (TAP) block is unclear. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to determine whether TAP blocks for Caesarean delivery (CD) with low-dose (LD) LA demonstrated non-inferiority in terms of analgesic efficacy, compared with high-dose (HD) LA. A literature search was performed for randomised controlled trials examining the analgesic efficacy of TAP blocks vs control after CD. The different dosing used in these studies was classified as HD or LD (bupivacaine equivalents >50 or ≤50 mg per block side, respectively). The pooled results of each dose group vs control were indirectly compared using the Q test. The primary outcome was 24 h opioid consumption. Secondary outcomes included 6 and 24 h postoperative pain scores, time to first analgesia, 6 h opioid consumption, opioid-related side-effects, and maternal satisfaction. Fourteen studies consisting of 770 women (389 TAP and 381 control) were included. Compared with controls, the 24 h opioid consumption (milligram morphine equivalents) was lower in HD [mean difference (MD) 95% confidence interval (CI) -22.41 (-38.56, -6.26); P=0.007; I 2 =93%] and LD [MD 95% CI -16.29 (-29.74, -2.84); P=0.02; I 2 =98%] TAP groups. However, no differences were demonstrated between the HD and LD groups (P=0.57). There were also no differences between the HD and LD groups for the 6 h opioid consumption, time to first analgesia, 6 and 24 h pain scores, postoperative nausea and vomiting, pruritus, and maternal satisfaction. Low-dose TAP blocks for Caesarean delivery provide analgesia and opioid-sparing effects comparable with the high-dose blocks. This suggests that lower doses can be used to reduce local anaesthetic toxicity risk without compromising the analgesic efficacy. Copyright © 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Comparison of efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block and iliohypogastric/ilioinguinal nerve block for postoperative pain management in patients undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy with spinal anesthesia: a prospective randomized controlled open-label study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okur, Onur; Tekgul, Zeki Tuncel; Erkan, Nazif

    2017-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of lateral abdominal transversus abdominis plane block (TAP block) and iliohypogastric/ilioinguinal nerve block (IHINB) under ultrasound guidance for postoperative pain management of inguinal hernia repair. Secondary purposes were to compare the complication rates of the two techniques and to examine the effects of TAP block and IHINB on chronic postoperative pain. This was a prospective randomized controlled open-label study. After approval of the Research Ethics Board, a total of 90 patients were allocated to three groups of 30 by simple randomized sampling as determined with a priori power analysis. Peripheral nerve blocks (TAP block or IHINB) were administered to patients following subarachnoid block according to their allocated group. Patient pain scores, additional analgesic requirements and complication rates were recorded periodically and compared. Pain scores were significantly lower in the study groups (p block group [GT] 266.6 ± 119.7 min; IHINB group [GI] 247.2 ± 128.7 min; and control group [GC] 79.1 ± 66.2 min; p block or IHINB for patients undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy reduces the intensity of both acute and chronic postoperative pain and additional analgesic requirements.

  2. Pethidine efficacy in achieving the ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breazu, Caius Mihai; Ciobanu, Lidia; Bartos, Adrian; Bodea, Raluca; Mircea, Petru Adrian; Ionescu, Daniela

    2017-02-21

    Pethidine is a synthetic opioid with local anesthetic properties. Our goal was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of pethidine for achieving the ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane (OSTAP) block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This prospective, double-blind study included 79 patients of physical status I and II according to American Society of Anesthesiologists, scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups, depending on the drug used to achieve preoperative bilateral OSTAP block: 1) OSTAP-Placebo (treated with normal saline); 2) OSTAP-Bupivacaine (treated with 0.25% bupivacaine); and 3) OSTAP-Pethidine (treated with 1% pethidine). The efficacy of pethidine in achieving the OSTAP block was analyzed using visual analog scale (VAS), intraoperative opioid dose, opioid consumption in post anesthesia care unit, and opioid consumption in the first 24 postoperative hours. The pain scores assessed by VAS at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours were significantly lower in OSTAP-Pethidine than in OSTAP-Placebo group (p consumption was significantly lower in OSTAP-Pethidine compared to OSTAP-Placebo group (150 versus 400 mg, p consumption in the first 24 hours (20.4 versus 78 mg, p < 0.001). Comparing VAS assessment between OSTAP-Bupivacaine and OSTAP-Pethidine groups, statistically significant differences were observed only for the immediate postoperative pain assessment (0 hours), where lower values were observed in OSTAP-Pethidine group (p = 0.004). There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (p = 0.131) between the groups. The use of 1% pethidine can be an alternative to 0.25% bupivacaine in achieving OSTAP block for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

  3. A comparative study to evaluate ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block versus ilioinguinal iliohypogastric nerve block for post-operative analgesia in adult patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirti Kamal

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Both transversus abdominis plane (TAP block and combined ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (IIN/IHN blocks are used routinely under ultrasound (USG guidance for postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery. This study compares USG guided TAP Vs IIN/IHN block for post-operative analgesic efficacy in adults undergoing inguinal hernia surgery. Methods: Sixty adults aged 18 to 60 with American Society of Anesthesiologsts' grade I or II were included. After general anaesthesia, patients in Group I received USG guided unilateral TAP block using 0.75% ropivacaine 3 mg/kg (maximum 25 mL and those in Group II received IIN/IHN block using 10 mL 0.75% ropivacaine. Postoperative rescue analgesia was with tramadol (intravenous IV ± diclofenac IV in the first 4 h followed by oral diclofenac subsequently. Total analgesic consumption in the first 24 h was the primary objective, intraoperative haemodynamics, number of attempts and time required for performing the block as well as the postoperative pain scores were also evaluated. Results: Time to first analgesic request was 319.8 ± 115.2 min in Group I and 408 ± 116.4 min in Group II (P = 0.005. Seven patients (23.33% in Group I and two (6.67% in Group II required tramadol in first four hours. No patient in either groups received diclofenac IV. The average dose of tablet diclofenac was 200 ± 35.96 mg in Group I and 172.5 ± 34.96 mg in Group II (P = 0. 004. Conclusion: USG guided IIN/IHN block reduces the postoperative analgesic requirement compared to USG guided TAP block.

  4. Comparison of bilateral transversus abdominis plane block and wound infiltration with bupivacaine for postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Görkem, Ümit; Koçyiğit, Kamuran; Toğrul, Cihan; Güngör, Tayfun

    2017-03-15

    The study aimed to compare efficacy, safety, pain intensity and analgesic consumption in patients receiving either bilateral transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block or wound infiltration with bupivacaine after cesarean delivery (CD). A total of 216 parturient women undergoing CD under general anesthesia were randomly allocated into five groups: i) controls (group 1), ii) TAP placebo (group 2), iii) TAP (group 3), iv) wound infiltration placebo (group 4), and, v) wound infiltration (group 5). Pain intensity was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Analgesic consumptions were recorded by a blinded nurse at 6, 12, and 18 hours postoperatively. The baseline characteristics of the five groups were similar in terms of age, history of CD, and body mass indices (p>0.05). There were significant intergroup differences in VAS scores between all groups at the zero time-point (p=0.03), at the 6th hour (p=0.02), 12th hour (p=0.02), and at the 18th hour (p=0.02). Group 3 patients had lower pain scores and consumed less diclofenac than group 2 patients only within 12 hours postoperatively whereas pain intensity and analgesic consumption were not different between group 5 and group 4 patients. Group 5 patients received significantly less pethidine than group 4 and group 1 patients (p<0.001). TAP block provided better pain relief and less analgesic requirement than bupivacaine wound infiltration early after CD. Given the similar amounts of diclofenac but lower amounts of pethidine administered in the wound infiltration group, wound infiltration of bupivacaine seems promising in terms of reducing opioid use after CD under general anesthesia, especially when TAP block is not used.

  5. Feasibility and analgesic efficacy of the transversus abdominis plane block after single-port laparoscopy in patients having bariatric surgery

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    Wassef M

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Michael Wassef, David Y Lee, Jun L Levine, Ronald E Ross, Hamza Guend, Catherine Vandepitte, Admir Hadzic, Julio TeixeiraDepartment of Anesthesiology, St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, NY, USAPurpose: The transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is a technique increasingly used for analgesia after surgery on the anterior abdominal wall. We undertook this study to determine the feasibility and analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided TAP blocks in morbidly obese patients. We describe the dermatomal spread of local anesthetic in TAP blocks administered, and test the hypothesis that TAP blocks decrease visual analog scale (VAS scores.Patients and methods: After ethics committee approval and informed consent, 35 patients with body mass index >35 undergoing single-port sleeve gastrectomy (SPSG were enrolled. All patients received balanced general anesthesia, followed by intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA; hydromorphone postoperatively; all reported VAS >3 upon arrival to the recovery room. From the cohort of 35 patients having single-port laparoscopy (SPL, a sealed envelope method was used to randomly select ten patients to the TAP group and 25 patients to the control group. The ten patients in the TAP group received ultrasound-guided TAP blocks with 30 mL of 0.2% Ropivacaine injected bilaterally. The dermatomal distribution of the sensory block (by pinprick test was recorded. VAS scores for the first 24 hours after surgery and opioid use were compared between the IV-PCA+TAP block and IV-PCA only groups.Results: Sensory block ranged from T5–L1. Mean VAS pain scores decreased from 8 ± 2 to 4 ± 3 (P=0.04 within 30 minutes of TAP block administration. Compared with patients given IV-PCA only, significantly fewer patients who received TAP block had moderate or severe pain (VAS 4–10 after block administration at 6 hours and 12 hours post-surgery. However, cumulative consumption of hydromorphone at 24 hours after SPSG surgery

  6. Dexmedetomidine in a surgically inserted catheter for transversus abdominis plane block in donor hepatectomy: A prospective randomized controlled study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aboelela, Mohamed Adel; Kandeel, Al-Refaey; Elsayed, Usama; Elmorshedi, Mohamed; Elsarraf, Waleed; Elsayed, Eman; Elgawalby, Ahmed; Sultan, Ahmed Mohamed; Wahab, Mohamed Abdel; Yassen, Amr

    2018-01-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a promising technique for analgesia after abdominal surgery. This prospective, randomized controlled trial assessed the effect of adding dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine in TAP block for donor hepatectomy. We hypothesized that this would improve postoperative morphine consumption and reduce analgesia related complication and inflammation. A total of 50 donor hepatectomy were enrolled in this study. Patients divided into two equal groups according to drugs used for TAP block. Group (B) received 20 ml of bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.25%, Group (BD) received 20 ml of bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.25% and 0.3 μg/kg dexmedetomidine, on both sides at the end of surgery and every 8 h for 48 h at right side only through inserted catheter. Primary outcome objective was morphine consumption at first 72 h. Secondary outcome objectives were morphine requirement, numbers of intake, time to first intake, pain score numerical analog scale (NAS), postoperative analgesia related complications, recovery of intestinal motility, and inflammatory markers. Data were analyzed, rescue morphine analgesia was significantly lower in (BD) group compared with (B) groups as considering total morphine consumption (B 4 ± 1.9, BD 1.5 ± 0.5, P = 0.03), numbers of morphine intake ( P = 0.04), morphine requirement ( P = 0.03), and first time of analgesia intake ( P = 0.04). NAS was significantly lower in group (BD) compared with group (B) group in the first 12 h (NAS 0 - P = 0.001, NAS 1 - P = 0.03). Adding dexmedetomidine improved gut motility, first oral intake without detectable anti-inflammatory effect. Adding dexmedetomidine to bupivacine in a surgically inserted catheter for TAP block in donor hepatectomy reduced morphine consumption without detectable anti-inflammatory effect.

  7. Pethidine efficacy in achieving the ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A prospective study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caius Mihai Breazu

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Pethidine is a synthetic opioid with local anesthetic properties. Our goal was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of pethidine for achieving the ultrasound-guided oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane (OSTAP block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This prospective, double-blind study included 79 patients of physical status I and II according to American Society of Anesthesiologists, scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups, depending on the drug used to achieve preoperative bilateral OSTAP block: 1 OSTAP-Placebo (treated with normal saline; 2 OSTAP-Bupivacaine (treated with 0.25% bupivacaine; and 3 OSTAP-Pethidine (treated with 1% pethidine. The efficacy of pethidine in achieving the OSTAP block was analyzed using visual analog scale (VAS, intraoperative opioid dose, opioid consumption in post anesthesia care unit, and opioid consumption in the first 24 postoperative hours. The pain scores assessed by VAS at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours were significantly lower in OSTAP-Pethidine than in OSTAP-Placebo group (p < 0.001. The mean intraoperative opioid consumption was significantly lower in OSTAP-Pethidine compared to OSTAP-Placebo group (150 versus 400 mg, p < 0.001, as well as the mean opioid consumption in the first 24 hours (20.4 versus 78 mg, p < 0.001. Comparing VAS assessment between OSTAP-Bupivacaine and OSTAP-Pethidine groups, statistically significant differences were observed only for the immediate postoperative pain assessment (0 hours, where lower values were observed in OSTAP-Pethidine group (p = 0.004. There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (p = 0.131 between the groups. The use of 1% pethidine can be an alternative to 0.25% bupivacaine in achieving OSTAP block for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

  8. Ultrasound-guided rectus sheath and transversus abdominis plane blocks for perioperative analgesia in upper abdominal surgery: A randomized controlled study

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    Khaled Abdelsalam

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Regional anesthetic techniques can be used to alleviate postoperative pain in patients undergoing major upper abdominal surgery. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of bilateral ultrasound (US-guided rectus sheath (RS and transversus abdominis plane (TAP blocks for better perioperative analgesia. Patients and Methods: It is a prospective, observer-blinded, randomized clinical study. 40 eligible patients undergoing elective liver resection or Whipple procedure were included. All patients received a standardized anesthetic technique. Group 1 (n = 20 received preincisional US-guided bilateral RS and TAP blocks using 20 ml volume of bupivacaine 0.25% for each, and group 2 (n = 20 received local wound infiltration at end of surgery with 40 ml of bupivacaine 0.25%. A standardized postoperative analgesic regimen composed of intravenous paracetamol and a morphine patient-controlled analgesia (PCA. The use of intraoperative fentanyl and recovery room morphine boluses, PCA-administered morphine, pain scores as well as number of patients′ experienced postoperative nausea and vomiting in the ward at 6 and 24 h were recorded. Results: Group 1 patients received a significantly lower cumulative intraoperative fentanyl, significantly lesser boluses of morphine in postanesthesia care unit, as well, significantly lower cumulative 24 h postoperative morphine dosage than the group 2 patients. Pain visual analog scale scores were significantly lower at both 6 and 24 h postoperatively in TAP group when compared with the no-TAP group. There were no complications related to the TAP block procedures. No signs or symptoms of local anesthetic systemic toxicity were detected. Conclusion: The combination of bilateral US-guided RS and TAP blocks provides excellent perioperative analgesia for major upper abdominal surgery.

  9. Transversus abdominis plane block using a short-acting local anesthetic for postoperative pain after laparoscopic colorectal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Tak Kyu; Lee, Se-Jun; Do, Sang-Hwan; Song, In-Ae

    2018-02-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block using a short-acting local anesthetic as part of multimodal analgesia is efficient in various abdominal surgeries, including laparoscopic surgery. However, information regarding its use in laparoscopic colorectal surgery is still limited and sometimes controversial. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether TAP block using a short-acting anesthetic has a positive postoperative analgesic outcome in patients who have undergone laparoscopic colorectal surgery. We searched for studies comparing the postoperative pain outcome after laparoscopic colorectal surgery between patients who received TAP block and a control group (placebo or no treatment). Outcome measures were early pain at rest (numeric rating scale [NRS] score at 0-2 h postoperatively), late pain at movement (NRS score at 24 h postoperatively), late pain at rest (NRS score at 24 h postoperatively), and postoperative opioid consumption (up to 24 h postoperatively). We used a random-effects model for the meta-analysis and Egger's regression test to detect publication bias. We included six studies involving 452 patients (224 in the TAP block group, 228 in the control group). Early and late pain scores at movement were significantly different between the TAP block and control groups (standardized mean difference: - 0.695, P consumption (P = 0.257). The TAP block using a short-acting anesthetic had a significant effect on the postoperative pain outcome in the early (0-2 h) and late (24 h) period at movement. However, it did not have a significant effect on the postoperative pain outcome in the early (0-2 h) and late (24 h) periods at rest after laparoscopic surgery.

  10. Efficacy of the subcostal transversus abdominis plane block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Comparison with conventional port-site infiltration

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    S Tolchard

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Pain experienced following laparoscopic cholecystectomy is largely contributed by the anterior abdominal wall incisions. This study investigated whether subcostal transversus abdominis (STA block was superior to traditional port-site infiltration of local anesthetic in reducing postoperative pain, opioid consumption, and time for recovery. Materials and Methods: Forty-three patients presenting for day case laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly allocated to receive either an ultrasound-guided STA block (n = 21 or port-site infiltration of local anesthetic (n = 22. Visual analog pain scores were measured at 1 and 4 h postoperatively to assess pain severity, and opioid requirement was measured in recovery and up to 8 h postoperatively. The time to discharge from recovery was recorded. Results: STA block resulted in a significant reduction in serial visual pain analog score values and significantly reduced the fentanyl requirement in recovery by >35% compared to the group that received local port-site infiltration (median 0.9 vs. 1.5 ΅cg/kg. Furthermore, STA block was associated with nearly a 50% reduction in overall 8-h equivalent morphine consumption (median 10 mg vs. 19 mg. In addition, STA block significantly reduced median time to discharge from recovery from 110 to 65 min. Conclusion: The results suggest that STA block provides superior postoperative analgesia and reduces opioid requirement following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. It may also improve theater efficiency by reducing time to discharge from the recovery unit.

  11. Postoperative Analgesic Efficacy of Bilateral Transversus Abdominis Plane Block in Patients Undergoing Midline Colorectal Surgeries Using Ropivacaine: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qazi, Nahida; Bhat, Wasim Mohammad; Iqbal, Malik Zaffar; Wani, Anisur Rehman; Gurcoo, Showkat A; Rasool, Sahir

    2017-01-01

    Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is done as a part of multimodal analgesia for pain relief after abdominal surgeries. This prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the postoperative analgesic efficacy of bilateral TAP block in patients undergoing midline colorectal surgeries using ropivacaine. Eighty patients scheduled for elective colorectal surgeries involving midline abdominal wall incision under general anesthesia were enrolled in this prospective randomized controlled trial. Group A received TAP block with 20 ml of 0.2% ropivacaine on either side of the abdominal wall, and Group B received 20 ml of normal saline. The time to request for rescue analgesia, total analgesic consumption in 24 h, and satisfaction with the anesthetic technique were assessed. The mean visual analog scale scores at rest and on coughing were higher in control group ( P > 0.05). Time (min) to request for the first rescue analgesia was prolonged in study group compared to control group ( P consumption in 24 h postoperatively was significantly high in control group ( P 0.05). The level of satisfaction concerning postoperative pain control/anesthetic technique was higher in study group ( P < 0.001). TAP block produces effective and prolonged postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing midline colorectal surgery. It is a technically simple block to perform with a high margin of safety. It produces a considerable reduction in mean intravenous postoperative tramadol requirements, reduction in postoperative pain scores, and increased time to first request for further analgesia, both at rest and on movement.

  12. Post-operative bilateral continuous ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block versus continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion in patients undergoing abdominoplasty

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    Eman Ramadan Salama

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block and continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion are used as part of multimodal analgesia to treat postoperative pain after lower abdominal surgeries. The aim of this randomised controlled study was to assess the efficacy of the two techniques and compare the two in patients undergoing abdominoplasty. Methods: Ninety female patients undergoing abdominoplasty were allocated to receive continuous wound infusion with saline (control group, GC, n = 30, continuous bilateral TAP block with 0.25% levobupivacaine (group GT, n = 30, or continuous wound infusion with 0.25% levobupivacaine (group GW, n = 30. The primary end-point was morphine requirement in the first 48 h. Numerical rating scale (NRS at rest and during movement, time to first morphine dose and time to first ambulation were recorded. Results: Morphine requirement in the first 48 h was significantly higher in GC than GW and GT (61.9 ± 12.8, 21.5 ± 9.5, and 18.9 ± 8.1 mg, respectively; P = 0.001, but GW and GT were comparable (P = 0.259. NRS was significantly higher in GC during movement in the first 24 h. GW and GT showed significantly longer time to first morphine dose (6.5 ± 1.7 and 8.9 ± 1.4 h, respectively, vs. 1.2 ± 0.3 h in GC and significantly shorter time to first ambulation (7.8 ± 3.1 and 6.9 ± 3.4 h, respectively, vs. 13.2 ± 4.9 h in GC (P = 0.001. Conclusion: Continuous bilateral ultrasound-guided TAP block and continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion significantly decreased total morphine consumption in the first 48 h compared to placebo; however, both treatment techniques were comparable.

  13. Randomized controlled trial to study the effect of dexamethasone as additive to ropivacaine on duration of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block in cesarean section

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    Jasleen Sachdeva

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is a regional anesthesia technique whose efficacy has been proven for postoperative pain relief after cesarean section (CS. Dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid, is now emerging as a new adjunct to local anesthetics for prolonging the duration of action and has been studied in different brachial plexus blocks. The primary outcome was to study the effect of dexamethasone as additive to ropivacaine on the duration of TAP block as assessed by time to first analgesic (TFA . The secondary outcome was total postoperative analgesic consumption, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and patient satisfaction. Method: This RCT was conducted on seventy American Society of Anesthesiology Grade I and II patients undergoing CS under subarachnoid block. Patients were randomly allocated to two groups comprising 35 patients each. Patients in Group I received ultrasound-guided bilateral TAP block at the end of surgery using 40 ml ropivacaine 0.2% and 2 ml saline, and patients in Group II received the block using 40 ml ropivacaine 0.2% and 2 ml (8 mg dexamethasone. Result: TFA was significantly longer in Group II (5.92 ± 1.02 vs. 3.11 ± 0.82 h, P = 0. Group II also had decreased tramadol requirement postoperatively (100.00 ± 0.00 vs. 140.00 ± 50.26 mg, P = 0.046. The incidence of nausea and vomiting was also lower (82.86% vs. 97.14%, P = 0.02318. The patient satisfaction with regard to pain relief was more (57.14% vs. 25.71%, P = 0.038. Conclusion: Addition of dexamethasone to ropivacaine in TAP block prolonged the duration of the block. There was no complication seen with TAP block in any of the patients.

  14. Effects of preoperative ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block on pain after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Tak Kyu; Yim, Jiyeon; Kim, Jaehyun; Eom, Woosik; Lee, Soon Ae; Park, Sung Chan; Oh, Jae Hwan; Park, Ji Won; Park, Boram; Kim, Dae Hyun

    2017-01-01

    Although laparoscopic colorectal surgery decreases postoperative pain and facilitates a speedier recovery compared with laparotomy, postoperative pain at trocar insertion sites remains a clinical concern. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of a preoperative ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block on pain after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer. In total, 58 patients scheduled to undergo laparoscopic surgery following a diagnosis of colorectal cancer were included in this study. The patients were randomized into TAP and control groups; the TAP group patients received a preoperative ultrasound-guided bilateral TAP block with 0.5 mL/kg of 0.25 % bupivacaine, while the control patients received the block with an equal amount of saline. Pain on coughing and at rest was assessed during postanesthetic recovery (PAR; 1 h after surgery) and on postoperative days (PODs) 1 (24 h), 2 (48 h), and 3 (72 h) by an investigator blinded to group allocations using the numeric rating scale (NRS). The primary outcome was pain on coughing on postoperative day (POD) 1. Fifty-five patients were included in the final analysis, including 28 in the TAP and 27 in the control groups. The pain intensity on coughing and at rest during PAR and on PODs 1, 2, and 3 showed no significant differences between groups. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in postoperative opioid consumption, sedation scores, nausea scores at the four time points, complication rates, and length of hospital stay between groups. In colorectal cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal surgery, a TAP block did not offer enough benefit for clinical efficacy in terms of postoperative pain or analgesic consumption.

  15. Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block: An evaluation of its efficacy in reducing post-operative opioid requirements in caesarean section

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahid Adeel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Different volumes of local anaesthetic are employed in transversus abdominis plane (TAP block to provide analgesia for lower abdominal surgeries. Our aim was to compare the efficacy of high versus low volume of bupivacaine TAP block in providing postoperative analgesia for caesarean sections. Settings and Design: Prospective, single-blind, randomized comparative study was performed during post-operative period. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients who had received spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section were randomly allocated to one of three groups: Group A received 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine, Group B received 30 ml of 0.166% bupivacaine on each side TAP block under ultrasound guidance, respectively, and Group C did not receive TAP block. Multi-modal analgesia comprising paracetamol, diclofenac and patient-controlled analgesia (PCA morphine was administered to all patients. The primary outcome measure in our study was 24-h post-operative morphine consumption through intravenous (IV PCA. Other secondary outcome measures were pain scores, nausea, sedation and patient satisfaction scores. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis done using analysis of variance, Fisher's Exact test and Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: Our primary outcome measure of 24-h cumulative PCA morphine consumption was 18.2 ± 6.5, 17.9 ± 8.6 and 19.4 ± 8.4 mg in groups A, B and C, respectively (P = 0.819. In the secondary outcome measures, 100% of study population in group A & B and 95% of group C had pain score of 0-3 on Numerical Rating Scale (P = 1.000 at 24 hr. 19, 15 and17 patients in group A, B and C, respectively, agreed and 1, 5 and 3 patients in group A, B and C, respectively, very strongly agreed with patient satisfaction survey for pain management (P = 0.265. Conclusion: TAP block as a part of multi-modal analgesia is debatable in the context of reducing the need of post-operative opioids. The present study was unequivocal in that two different

  16. Role of ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block as a component of multimodal analgesic regimen for lower segment caesarean section: a randomized double blind clinical study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jadon, Ashok; Jain, Priyanka; Chakraborty, Swastika; Motaka, Mayur; Parida, Sudhansu Sekhar; Sinha, Neelam; Agrawal, Amit; Pati, Asit Kumar

    2018-05-14

    While opioids are the mainstay for post-operative analgesia after lower segment caesarean section, they are associated with various untoward effects. Ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been postulated to provide effective analgesia for caesarean section. We evaluated the analgesic efficacy of this block for post caesarean analgesia in a randomised controlled trial. One hundred thirty-nine mothers undergoing caesarean delivery were randomised to receive TAP block with either 20 ml 0.375% ropivacaine or 20 ml saline after obtaining informed consent. All the subjects received a standard spinal anaesthetic and diclofenac was administered for post-operative pain. Breakthrough pain was treated with tramadol. Post-operatively, all the subjects were assessed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18 & 24 h. The primary outcome was the time to first analgesic request. The secondary measures of outcome were pain, nausea, sedation, number of doses of tramadol administered and satisfaction with the pain management. The median (interquartile range) time to first analgesic request was prolonged in the TAP group compared to the control group (p consumption when used for multimodal analgesia for pain relief after caesarean section. However, the risk of local anaesthetic systemic toxicity remains unknown with this block. Hence larger safety trials and measures to limit this complication need to be ascertained. The trial was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry of India ( CTRI/2017/03/008194 ) on 23/03/2017 (trial registered retrospectively).

  17. Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block in patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair: 0.125% bupivacaine provides similar analgesic effect compared to 0.25% bupivacaine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdoğan Arı, Dilek; Yıldırım Ar, Arzu; Karadoğan, Firdevs; Özcabı, Yetkin; Koçoğlu, Ayşegül; Kılıç, Fatih; Akgün, Fatma Nur

    2016-02-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of 0.125% bupivacaine compared to 0.25% bupivacaine for ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair. Randomized, double-blind study. Educational and research hospital. Forty adult patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-III undergoing elective primary unilateral open inguinal hernia repair under spinal anesthesia. Patients in group I received 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine, whereas patients in group II received 20 mL of 0.125% bupivacaine for TAP block at the end of the surgery. Pain intensity was assessed at rest and during coughing using 10-cm visual analog scale score at 5, 15, 30, and 45 minutes and 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours after TAP block. Morphine consumption and time to first morphine requirement were recorded. Visual analog scale scores at rest and during coughing were not significantly different between groups at all time points measured. Twenty-four hours of morphine consumption (7.72±7.33 mg in group I and 6.06±5.20 mg in group II; P=.437) and time to first morphine requirement (182.35±125.16 minutes in group I and 143.21±87.28 minutes in group II; P=.332) were not different between groups. 0.125% Bupivacaine provides similar analgesic effect compared to 0.25% bupivacaine for ultrasound-guided TAP block in patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. [Post-operative pain after ultrasound transversus abdominis plane block versus trocar site infiltration in laparoscopic nephrectomy: a prospective study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araújo, Ana M; Guimarães, Joana; Nunes, Catarina S; Couto, Paula S; Amadeu, Eduarda

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is useful in reducing post-operative pain in laparoscopic nephrectomy compared to placebo. The purpose of this work is to compare post-operative pain and recovery after TAP block or trocar site infiltration (TSI) in this surgery. A prospective, single blinded study on patients scheduled for laparoscopic nephrectomy. Patients were assigned to two groups: TSI Group: trocar site infiltration at the end of surgery; TAP Group: unilateral ultrasound-guided TAP block after induction. Sevoflurane and remifentanil, in a target controlled infusion mode, were used for maintenance of general anesthesia. Before the end of surgery paracetamol, tramadol and morphine were administered. Visual analogue scale (VAS 0-100mm) at rest and with cough was applied in three moments: in recovery room (T1 at admission and T2 before discharge) and 24h after surgery (T3). Pain scores with incentive spirometer were also evaluated at T3. In recovery, morphine was administered as a rescue drug whenever VAS>30mm. Time to oral intake, chair sitting, ambulation and length of hospital stay were evaluated 24h after surgery. Student's t-test and Chi-square test, and linear regression models. A p-value0.05). VAS at rest (TAP vs. TSI groups) was: T1=33±29 vs. 39±32, T2=10±9 vs. 17±18 and T3=7±12 vs. 10±18. VAS with cough (TAP vs. TSI groups) was: T1=51±34 vs. 45±32, T2=24±24 vs. 33±23 and T3=20±23 vs. 23±23. VAS with incentive spirometer (TAP vs. TSI groups) was: T3=21±27 vs. 21±25. Intraoperative remifentanil consumption was similar between TAP (0.16±0.07mcg.kg -1 .min -1 ) and TSI (0.18±0.9mcg.kg -1 .min -1 ) groups. There were no differences in opioid consumption between TAP (4.4±3.49mg) and TSI (6.87±4.83mg) groups during recovery. Functional recovery parameters were not statistically different between groups. Multimodal analgesia with TAP block did not show a significant clinical benefit compared with trocar site infiltration in laparoscopic

  19. Post-operative pain after ultrasound transversus abdominis plane block versus trocar site infiltration in laparoscopic nephrectomy: a prospective study

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    Ana M. Araújo

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is useful in reducing post-operative pain in laparoscopic nephrectomy compared to placebo. The purpose of this work is to compare post-operative pain and recovery after TAP block or trocar site infiltration (TSI in this surgery. Methods A prospective, single blinded study on patients scheduled for laparoscopic nephrectomy. Patients were assigned to two groups: TSI Group: trocar site infiltration at the end of surgery; TAP Group: unilateral ultrasound-guided TAP block after induction. Sevoflurane and remifentanil, in a target controlled infusion mode, were used for maintenance of general anesthesia. Before the end of surgery paracetamol, tramadol and morphine were administered. Visual analogue scale (VAS 0-100 mm at rest and with cough was applied in three moments: in recovery room (T1 at admission and T2 before discharge and 24 h after surgery (T3. Pain scores with incentive spirometer were also evaluated at T3. In recovery, morphine was administered as a rescue drug whenever VAS > 30 mm. Time to oral intake, chair sitting, ambulation and length of hospital stay were evaluated 24 h after surgery. Statistical analysis: Student's t-test and Chi-square test, and linear regression models. A p-value 0.05. VAS at rest (TAP vs. TSI groups was: T1 = 33 ± 29 vs. 39 ± 32, T2 = 10 ± 9 vs. 17 ± 18 and T3 = 7 ± 12 vs. 10 ± 18. VAS with cough (TAP vs. TSI groups was: T1 = 51 ± 34 vs. 45 ± 32, T2 = 24 ± 24 vs. 33 ± 23 and T3 = 20 ± 23 vs. 23 ± 23. VAS with incentive spirometer (TAP vs. TSI groups was: T3 = 21 ± 27 vs. 21 ± 25. Intraoperative remifentanil consumption was similar between TAP (0.16 ± 0.07 mcg.kg-1.min-1 and TSI (0.18 ± 0.9 mcg.kg-1.min-1 groups. There were no differences in opioid consumption between TAP (4.4 ± 3.49 mg and TSI (6.87 ± 4.83 mg groups during recovery. Functional recovery parameters were not statistically different between groups. Conclusions Multimodal

  20. Transversus Abdominis Plane Catheter Bolus Analgesia after Major Abdominal Surgery

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    Nils Bjerregaard

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP blocks have been shown to reduce pain and opioid requirements after abdominal surgery. The aim of the present case series was to demonstrate the use of TAP catheter injections of bupivacaine after major abdominal surgery. Methods. Fifteen patients scheduled for open colonic resection surgery were included. After induction of anesthesia, bilateral TAP catheters were placed, and all patients received a bolus dose of 20 mL bupivacaine 2.5 mg/mL with epinephrine 5 μg/mL through each catheter. Additional bolus doses were injected bilaterally 12, 24, and 36 hrs after the first injections. Supplemental pain treatment consisted of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and gabapentin. Intravenous morphine was used as rescue analgesic. Postoperative pain was rated on a numeric rating scale (NRS, 0–10 at regular predefined intervals after surgery, and consumption of intravenous morphine was recorded. Results. The TAP catheters were placed without any technical difficulties. NRS scores were ≤3 at rest and ≤5 during cough at 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, and 36 hrs after surgery. Cumulative consumption of intravenous morphine was 28 (23–48 mg (median, IQR within the first 48 postoperative hours. Conclusion. TAP catheter bolus injections can be used to prolong analgesia after major abdominal surgery.

  1. Effect of addition of dexamethasone to ropivacaine on post-operative analgesia in ultrasonography-guided transversus abdominis plane block for inguinal hernia repair: A prospective, double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Uma Datt; Prateek; Tak, Himani

    2018-05-01

    Ultrasonography (USG)-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an abdominal field block with high efficacy. This study was undertaken with the aim of determining the effect of the addition of dexamethasone to 0.5% ropivacaine on post-operative analgesia in USG-guided TAP block for inguinal hernia repair. A double-blind randomised control study was conducted on sixty patients posted for inguinal hernia repair with the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical Status I or II, who were allocated two groups of 30 each. Patients in Group RS received 0.5% ropivacaine (20 ml) and normal saline (2 ml) whereas patients in Group RD received 0.5% ropivacaine (20 ml) and dexamethasone (2 ml, i.e., 8 mg), in USG-guided TAP Block on the same side, after repair of inguinal hernia under spinal anaesthesia. Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, time for request of first analgesia and total tramadol consumption in first 24 h were compared. Unpaired Student's t -test and Mann-Whitney U-test were performed using SPSS 23 Software. Patients in Group RD had significantly lower VAS scores as compared to Group RS from 4 th to 12 th h, postoperatively. Duration of analgesia was significantly more in Group RD (547.50 [530,530] min) when compared with Group RS (387.50 [370,400] min) ( P consumption.

  2. Efficacy of Nalbuphine with Flurbiprofen on Multimodal Analgesia with Transverse Abdominis Plane Block in Elderly Patients Undergoing Open Gastrointestinal Surgery: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blinded Trial

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    Yu Mao

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To assess different doses of nalbuphine with flurbiprofen compared to sufentanil with flurbiprofen in multimodal analgesia efficacy for elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery with a transverse abdominis plane block (TAPB. Methods. 158 elderly patients scheduling for elective open gastrointestinal surgery under general anesthesia and TAPB were randomly assigned to four groups according to different doses of nalbuphine with flurbiprofen in postoperative intravenous analgesia (PCIA. Postoperative pain intensity, effective pressing numbers of PCIA, and adverse effects were recorded at 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after surgery. Results. Postoperative pain intensity, effective pressing numbers, and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV were similar among the four groups after surgery, while the severity of PONV was decreased in Group L compared with Group S at 6, 12, and 48 h after surgery. No individual experienced pruritus, respiratory depression, or hypotension. Conclusions. Low dose of nalbuphine (15 μg·kg−1·ml−1 combined with flurbiprofen is superior for elderly patients undergoing elective open gastrointestinal surgery with TAPB in terms of the efficient postoperative analgesia and decreased severity of PONV. This trial is registered with NCT02984865.

  3. Effective dermatomal blockade after subcostal transversus abdominis plane block

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mitchell, Anja Ulrike; Torup, Henrik; Hansen, Egon G

    2012-01-01

    . Sensory assessment of a TAP block may guide the decision on the extent of the block. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the dermatomal extent of sensory blockade after injection of 20 ml 0.5% ropivacaine bilaterally into the TAP can be assessed using cold and pinprick sensation....

  4. Effect of transversus abdominis plane block in combination with general anesthesia on perioperative opioid consumption, hemodynamics, and recovery in living liver donors: The prospective, double-blinded, randomized study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdogan, Mehmet A; Ozgul, Ulku; Uçar, Muharrem; Yalin, Mehmet R; Colak, Yusuf Z; Çolak, Cemil; Toprak, Huseyin I

    2017-04-01

    Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block provides effective postoperative analgesia after abdominal surgeries. It can be also a useful strategy to reduce perioperative opioid consumption, support intraoperative hemodynamic stability, and promote early recovery from anesthesia. The aim of this prospective randomized double-blind study was to assess the effect of subcostal TAP blocks on perioperative opioid consumption, hemodynamic, and recovery time in living liver donors. The prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled study was conducted with 49 living liver donors, aged 18-65 years, who were scheduled to undergo right hepatectomy. Patients who received subcostal TAP block in combination with general anesthesia were allocated into Group 1, and patients who received general anesthesia alone were allocated into Group 2. The TAP blocks were performed bilaterally by obtaining an image with real-time ultrasound guidance using 0.5% bupivacaine diluted with saline to reach a total volume of 40 mL. The primary outcome measure in our study was perioperative remifentanil consumption. Secondary outcomes were mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), mean desflurane requirement, anesthesia recovery time, frequency of emergency vasopressor use, total morphine use, and length of hospital stay. Total remifentanil consumption and the anesthesia recovery time were significantly lower in Group 1 compared with Group 2. Postoperative total morphine use and length of hospital stay were also reduced. Changes in the MAP and HR were similar in the both groups. There were no significant differences in HR and MBP between groups at any time. Combining subcostal TAP blocks with general anesthesia significantly reduced perioperative and postoperative opioid consumption, provided shorter anesthesia recovery time, and length of hospital stay in living liver donors. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Ultrasound-guided truncal blocks: A new frontier in regional anaesthesia

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    Arunangshu Chakraborty

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The practice of regional anaesthesia is rapidly changing with the introduction of ultrasound into the working domain of the anaesthesiologist. New techniques are being pioneered. Among the recent techniques, notable are the truncal blocks, for example, the transversus abdominis plane block, rectus sheath block, hernia block and quadratus lumborum block in the abdomen and the pectoral nerves (Pecs block 1 and 2, serratus anterior plane block and intercostal nerve block. This narrative review covers the brief anatomical discourse along with technical description of the ultrasound-guided truncal blocks.

  6. Effect of addition of dexamethasone to ropivacaine on post-operative analgesia in ultrasonography-guided transversus abdominis plane block for inguinal hernia repair: A prospective, double-blind, randomised controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uma Datt Sharma

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Ultrasonography (USG-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is an abdominal field block with high efficacy. This study was undertaken with the aim of determining the effect of the addition of dexamethasone to 0.5% ropivacaine on post-operative analgesia in USG-guided TAP block for inguinal hernia repair. Methods: A double-blind randomised control study was conducted on sixty patients posted for inguinal hernia repair with the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical Status I or II, who were allocated two groups of 30 each. Patients in Group RS received 0.5% ropivacaine (20 ml and normal saline (2 ml whereas patients in Group RD received 0.5% ropivacaine (20 ml and dexamethasone (2 ml, i.e., 8 mg, in USG-guided TAP Block on the same side, after repair of inguinal hernia under spinal anaesthesia. Visual analogue scale (VAS scores, time for request of first analgesia and total tramadol consumption in first 24 h were compared. Unpaired Student's t-test and Mann–Whitney U-test were performed using SPSS 23 Software. Results: Patients in Group RD had significantly lower VAS scores as compared to Group RS from 4th to 12th h, postoperatively. Duration of analgesia was significantly more in Group RD (547.50 [530,530] min when compared with Group RS (387.50 [370,400] min (P < 0.001. The demand for intravenous tramadol was significantly low in Group RD (223.33 ± 56.83 mg as compared to Group RS (293.33 ± 25.71 mg (P < 0.001. Conclusion: Addition of dexamethasone to ropivacaine in USG-guided TAP block significantly reduces post-operative pain and prolongs the duration of post-operative analgesia, thereby reducing analgesic consumption.

  7. The use of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Southern African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia ... The placebo group received sham blocks with normal saline, post induction of anaesthesia. ... Secondary outcomes were adequacy of pain relief, as assessed by pain scores at 0, ...

  8. Comparison of analgesic efficacy of subcostal transversus abdominis plane blocks with epidural analgesia following upper abdominal surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niraj, G; Kelkar, A; Jeyapalan, I; Graff-Baker, P; Williams, O; Darbar, A; Maheshwaran, A; Powell, R

    2011-06-01

    Subcostal transversus abdominis plane (TAP) catheters have been reported to be an effective method of providing analgesia after upper abdominal surgery. We compared their analgesic efficacy with that of epidural analgesia after major upper abdominal surgery in a randomised controlled trial. Adult patients undergoing elective open hepatobiliary or renal surgery were randomly allocated to receive subcostal TAP catheters (n=29) or epidural analgesia (n=33), in addition to a standard postoperative analgesic regimen comprising of regular paracetamol and tramadol as required. The TAP group patients received bilateral subcostal TAP catheters and 1 mg.kg(-1) bupivacaine 0.375% bilaterally every 8 h. The epidural group patients received an infusion of bupivacaine 0.125% with fentanyl 2 μg.ml(-1) . The primary outcome measure was visual analogue pain scores during coughing at 8, 24, 48 and 72 h after surgery. We found no significant differences in median (IQR [range]) visual analogue scores during coughing at 8 h between the TAP group (4.0 (2.3-6.0 [0-7.5])) and epidural group (4.0 (2.5-5.3) [0-8.5])) and at 72 h (2.0 (0.8-4.0 [0-5]) and 2.5 (1.0-5.0 [0-6]), respectively). Tramadol consumption was significantly greater in the TAP group (p=0.002). Subcostal TAP catheter boluses may be an effective alternative to epidural infusions for providing postoperative analgesia after upper abdominal surgery. © 2011 The Authors. Anaesthesia © 2011 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

  9. Transversus abdominis plane block after Caesarean section in an ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... could be employed but are often not followed due to inadequate healthcare systems.1,2 ... TAP block requires administration of a bolus of local anaesthetic into the ... history of allergy to the drugs used in this study, obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 ... tion to the paracetamol, diclofenac 1 mg/kg intramuscularly. (IM) every 8 h ...

  10. Ultrasound Guided Transversus Thoracic Plane block, Parasternal block and fascial planes hydrodissection for internal mammary post thoracotomy pain syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piraccini, E; Biondi, G; Byrne, H; Calli, M; Bellantonio, D; Musetti, G; Maitan, S

    2018-05-16

    Pectoral Nerves Block (PECS) and Serratus Plane Block (SPB) have been used to treat persistent post-surgical pain after breast and thoracic surgery; however, they cannot block the internal mammary region, so a residual pain may occur in that region. Parasternal block (PSB) and Thoracic Transversus Plane Block (TTP) anaesthetize the anterior branches of T2-6 intercostal nerves thus they can provide analgesia to the internal mammary region. We describe a 60-year-old man suffering from right post-thoracotomy pain syndrome with residual pain located in the internal mammary region after a successful treatment with PECS and SPB. We performed a PSB and TTP and hydrodissection of fascial planes with triamcinolone and Ropivacaine. Pain disappeared and the result was maintained 3 months later. This report suggests that PSB and TTP with local anaesthetic and corticosteroid with hydrodissection of fascial planes might be useful to treat a post thoracotomy pain syndrome located in the internal mammary region. The use of Transversus Thoracic Plane and Parasternal Blocks and fascial planes hydrodissection as a novel therapeutic approach to treat a residual post thoracotomy pain syndrome even when already treated with Pectoral Nerves Block and Serratus Plane Block. © 2018 European Pain Federation - EFIC®.

  11. Post-operative pain after ultrasound transversus abdominis plane block versus trocar site infiltration in laparoscopic nephrectomy: a prospective study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana M. Araújo

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP block is useful in reducing post-operative pain in laparoscopic nephrectomy compared to placebo. The purpose of this work is to compare post-operative pain and recovery after TAP block or trocar site infiltration (TSI in this surgery. Methods: A prospective, single blinded study on patients scheduled for laparoscopic nephrectomy. Patients were assigned to two groups: TSI Group: trocar site infiltration at the end of surgery; TAP Group: unilateral ultrasound-guided TAP block after induction. Sevoflurane and remifentanil, in a target controlled infusion mode, were used for maintenance of general anesthesia. Before the end of surgery paracetamol, tramadol and morphine were administered. Visual analogue scale (VAS 0–100 mm at rest and with cough was applied in three moments: in recovery room (T1 at admission and T2 before discharge and 24 h after surgery (T3. Pain scores with incentive spirometer were also evaluated at T3. In recovery, morphine was administered as a rescue drug whenever VAS > 30 mm. Time to oral intake, chair sitting, ambulation and length of hospital stay were evaluated 24 h after surgery. Statistical analysis: Student's t-test and Chi-square test, and linear regression models. A p-value  0.05. VAS at rest (TAP vs. TSI groups was: T1 = 33 ± 29 vs. 39 ± 32, T2 = 10 ± 9 vs. 17 ± 18 and T3 = 7 ± 12 vs. 10 ± 18. VAS with cough (TAP vs. TSI groups was: T1 = 51 ± 34 vs. 45 ± 32, T2 = 24 ± 24 vs. 33 ± 23 and T3 = 20 ± 23 vs. 23 ± 23. VAS with incentive spirometer (TAP vs. TSI groups was: T3 = 21 ± 27 vs. 21 ± 25. Intraoperative remifentanil consumption was similar between TAP (0.16 ± 0.07 mcg.kg−1.min−1 and TSI (0.18 ± 0.9 mcg.kg−1.min−1 groups. There were no differences in opioid consumption between TAP (4.4 ± 3.49 mg and TSI (6.87 ± 4.83 mg groups during recovery. Functional recovery parameters were not

  12. Combined Continuous Paravertebral and TAP Blocks for Pain Management after TRAM Flap Breast Reconstruction: A Report of Two Cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. RaoKadam

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Transverse Rectus Abdominis Musculocutaneous (TRAM flap surgery is a prolonged and extensive procedure that requires multiple incisions. Recently, Transverse Abdominis Plane (TAP blocks have been found to be reliable method of providing regional analgesia for lower abdominal surgery and paravertebral block for pain management after breast surgery. Since the TRAM flap surgery involves both abdomen and thorax, the combination of these two blocks to manage post operative pain could be effective. This manuscript is one of the initial cases reporting of the use of these techniques in which triple catheters with ropivacaine infusion in breast reconstruction surgery were successfully used with reduced pain scores and opioid consumption.

  13. Abdominal wall blocks in adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Børglum, Jens; Gögenür, Ismail; Bendtsen, Thomas F

    2016-01-01

    been introduced with success. Future research should also investigate the effect of specific abdominal wall blocks on neuroendocrine and inflammatory stress response after surgery.  Summary USG abdominal wall blocks in adults are commonplace techniques today. Most abdominal wall blocks are assigned......Purpose of review Abdominal wall blocks in adults have evolved much during the last decade; that is, particularly with the introduction of ultrasound-guided (USG) blocks. This review highlights recent advances of block techniques within this field and proposes directions for future research.......  Recent findings Ultrasound guidance is now considered the golden standard for abdominal wall blocks in adults, even though some landmark-based blocks are still being investigated. The efficiency of USG transversus abdominis plane blocks in relation to many surgical procedures involving the abdominal wall...

  14. "A Tale of Two Planes": Deep Versus Superficial Serratus Plane Block for Postmastectomy Pain Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piracha, Mohammad M; Thorp, Stephen L; Puttanniah, Vinay; Gulati, Amitabh

    Postmastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) is a significant burden for breast cancer survivors. Although multiple therapies have been described, an evolving field of serratus anterior plane blocks has been described in this population. We describe the addition of the deep serratus anterior plane block (DSPB) for PMPS. Four patients with history of PMPS underwent DSPB for anterior chest wall pain. A retrospective review of these patients' outcomes was obtained through postprocedure interviews. Three of the patients previously had a superficial serratus anterior plane block, which was not as efficacious as the DSPB. The fourth patient had a superficial serratus anterior plane that was difficult to separate with hydrodissection but had improved pain control with a DSPB. We illustrate 4 patients who have benefitted from a DSPB and describe indications that this block may be more efficacious than a superficial serratus plane block. Further study is recommended to understand the intercostal nerve branches within the lateral and anterior muscular chest wall planes.

  15. Bilateral transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with 24 hours ropivacaine infusion via TAP catheters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Pernille L; Hilsted, Karen L; Dahl, Jørgen B

    2013-01-01

    The analgesic effect of a TAP block has been investigated in various surgical settings. There are however limited information about block level and block duration. Furthermore, there is a lack of information about continuous TAP block after ultrasound-guided posterior TAP blocks.The aim of this d...... of this double-blind randomized study was therefore to investigate the effect of an ultrasound-guided posterior TAP block with 24 hours local anesthetic infusion via a TAP catheter....

  16. Ultrasound-guided bilateral dual transversus abdominis plane block: a new four-point approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Neimann, Jens Dupont Børglum; Maschmann, C; Belhage, B

    2011-01-01

    scale 0–10) from a mean of 8.2 to a mean of 2.2 10 min after block performance (Pcare unit after an average of 34 min. Twenty-one patients (84%) did not require any i.v. opioids in the following 6 h. Sixteen patients (64%) were mobilized within 6 h...... after the block. Data were similar irrespective of open or laparoscopic surgery (P=0.68). Conclusion: This new four-point single-shot technique was effective in decreasing severe pain after a major abdominal surgery. The block, although short-lived, facilitated discharge from the post-anaesthesia care...

  17. Comparison of Transversus Abdominis Plane Infiltration with Liposomal Bupivacaine versus Continuous Epidural Analgesia versus Intravenous Opioid Analgesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayad, Sabry; Babazade, Rovnat; Elsharkawy, Hesham; Nadar, Vinayak; Lokhande, Chetan; Makarova, Natalya; Khanna, Rashi; Sessler, Daniel I; Turan, Alparslan

    2016-01-01

    Epidural analgesia is considered the standard of care but cannot be provided to all patients Liposomal bupivacaine has been approved for field blocks such as transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks but has not been clinically compared against other modalities. In this retrospective propensity matched cohort study we thus tested the primary hypothesis that TAP infiltration are noninferior (not worse) to continuous epidural analgesia and superior (better) to intravenous opioid analgesia in patients recovering from major lower abdominal surgery. 318 patients were propensity matched on 18 potential factors among three groups (106 per group): 1) TAP infiltration with bupivacaine liposome; 2) continuous Epidural analgesia with plain bupivacaine; and; 3) intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA). We claimed TAP noninferior (not worse) over Epidural if TAP was noninferior (not worse) on total morphine-equivalent opioid and time-weighted average pain score (10-point scale) within first 72 hours after surgery with noninferiority deltas of 1 (10-point scale) for pain and an increase less of 20% in the mean morphine equivalent opioid consumption. We claimed TAP or Epidural groups superior (better) over IV PCA if TAP or Epidural was superior on opioid consumption and at least noninferior on pain outcome. Multivariable linear regressions within the propensity-matched cohorts were used to model total morphine-equivalent opioid dose and time-weighted average pain score within first 72 hours after surgery; joint hypothesis framework was used for formal testing. TAP infiltration were noninferior to Epidural on both primary outcomes (pconsumption (p = 0.37). We did not find noninferiority of Epidural over IV PCA on pain scores (P = 0.13) and nor did we find superiority on opioid consumption (P = 0.98). TAP infiltration with liposomal bupivacaine and continuous epidural analgesia were similar in terms of pain and opioid consumption, and not worse in pain compared with IV PCA

  18. Blocking sets in Desarguesian planes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blokhuis, A.; Miklós, D.; Sós, V.T.; Szönyi, T.

    1996-01-01

    We survey recent results concerning the size of blocking sets in desarguesian projective and affine planes, and implications of these results and the technique to prove them, to related problemis, such as the size of maximal partial spreads, small complete arcs, small strong representative systems

  19. Comparison of Epidural Analgesia with Transversus Abdominis Plane Analgesia for Postoperative Pain Relief in Patients Undergoing Lower Abdominal Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iyer, Sadasivan Shankar; Bavishi, Harshit; Mohan, Chadalavada Venkataram; Kaur, Navdeep

    2017-01-01

    Anesthesiologists play an important role in postoperative pain management. For analgesia after lower abdominal surgery, epidural analgesia and ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block are suitable options. The study aims to compare the analgesic efficacy of both techniques. Seventy-two patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery under spinal anesthesia were randomized to postoperatively receive lumbar epidural catheter (Group E) or ultrasound-guided TAP block (Group T) through intravenous cannulas placed bilaterally. Group E received 10 ml 0.125% bupivacaine stat and 10 ml 8 th hourly for 48 h. Group T received 20 ml 0.125% bupivacaine bilaterally stat and 20 ml bilaterally 8 th hourly for 48 h. Pain at rest and on coughing, total paracetamol and tramadol consumption were recorded. Analgesia at rest was comparable between the groups in the first 16 h. At 24 and 48 h, Group E had significantly better analgesia at rest ( P = 0.001 and 0.004 respectively). Patients in Group E had significantly higher number of patients with nil or mild pain on coughing at all times. Paracetamol consumption was comparable in both groups, but tramadol consumption was significantly higher in Group T at the end of 48 h ( P = 0.001). For lower abdominal surgeries, analgesia provided by intermittent boluses of 0.125% is comparable for first 16 h between epidural and TAP catheters. However, the quality of analgesia provided by the epidural catheter is superior to that provided by TAP catheters beyond that both at rest and on coughing with reduced opioid consumption.

  20. Quadratus lumborum block for post-operative pain relief in patient with Prune belly syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garg, Chitra; Khanna, Sangeeta; Mehta, Yatin

    2017-10-01

    Abdominal field blocks are commonly used as part of multimodal analgesia for post-operative pain relief in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Conventionally, transversus abdominis plane block is used, but has the disadvantage of limited spread only to T10-T12 segments, providing only partial pain relief. The new quadratus lumborum (QL) block has the advantage of providing wider sensory block from T6 to L1 and thus has an evolving role in opioid-free anaesthesia. Opioid-induced cough depression, urinary retention, and drowsiness can be problematic in patients with Prune belly syndrome, who have deficient abdominal muscles and myriad of genitourinary problems. We report a case of a young male with Prune belly syndrome, who had a pain-free post-operative period after high inguinal orchidectomy with unilateral QL block.

  1. Transversus Abdominis Plane Blockade as Part of a Multimodal Postoperative Analgesia Plan in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matulewicz, Richard S; Patel, Mehul; Jordan, Brian J; Morano, Jacqueline; Frainey, Brendan; Bhanji, Yasin; Bux, Mahreen; Nader, Antoun; Kundu, Shilajit D; Meeks, Joshua J

    2018-04-26

    Radical cystectomy (RC) is a morbid procedure with frequent complications that may benefit from implementation of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol. To examine the benefits of a multimodal analgesic plan that uses continuous transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blockade as part of an ERAS protocol after RC. A retrospective comparison of consecutive patients undergoing RC over a 4-year period was conducted. Patients were designated as having surgery either before or after implementation of an ERAS protocol. A major component of the ERAS protocol was a multi-modal analgesia plan with TAP blockade. Patient demographics, comorbidities, operative details, and outcomes, including days to flatus, bowel movement (BM), narcotic usage, and length of stay (LOS) were compared. In total, 171 patients were included: 100 pre-ERAS and 71 ERAS. There were no differences in age, smoking status, operative approach, or diversion type. The patients in the ERAS cohort were less likely to be male, had a higher median BMI, and more likely to have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Total and early postoperative narcotic use were lower in the ERAS cohort: 89 vs. 336 mg ( p  RC pain management.

  2. Quadratus lumborum block for post-operative pain relief in patient with Prune belly syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chitra Garg

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abdominal field blocks are commonly used as part of multimodal analgesia for post-operative pain relief in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Conventionally, transversus abdominis plane block is used, but has the disadvantage of limited spread only to T10–T12 segments, providing only partial pain relief. The new quadratus lumborum (QL block has the advantage of providing wider sensory block from T6 to L1 and thus has an evolving role in opioid-free anaesthesia. Opioid-induced cough depression, urinary retention, and drowsiness can be problematic in patients with Prune belly syndrome, who have deficient abdominal muscles and myriad of genitourinary problems. We report a case of a young male with Prune belly syndrome, who had a pain-free post-operative period after high inguinal orchidectomy with unilateral QL block.

  3. Adaptive bit plane quadtree-based block truncation coding for image compression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shenda; Wang, Jin; Zhu, Qing

    2018-04-01

    Block truncation coding (BTC) is a fast image compression technique applied in spatial domain. Traditional BTC and its variants mainly focus on reducing computational complexity for low bit rate compression, at the cost of lower quality of decoded images, especially for images with rich texture. To solve this problem, in this paper, a quadtree-based block truncation coding algorithm combined with adaptive bit plane transmission is proposed. First, the direction of edge in each block is detected using Sobel operator. For the block with minimal size, adaptive bit plane is utilized to optimize the BTC, which depends on its MSE loss encoded by absolute moment block truncation coding (AMBTC). Extensive experimental results show that our method gains 0.85 dB PSNR on average compare to some other state-of-the-art BTC variants. So it is desirable for real time image compression applications.

  4. Pectoralis-serratus interfascial plane block vs thoracic paravertebral block for unilateral radical mastectomy with axillary evacuation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hetta, Diab Fuad; Rezk, Khalid Mohammed

    2016-11-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of pectoralis-serratus interfascial plane block in comparison with thoracic paravertebral block for postmastectomy pain. A prospective randomized controlled study. Tertiary center, university hospital. Sixty-four adult women, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classes I, II, and III, scheduled for unilateral modified radical mastectomy with axillary evacuation. Patients were randomized to receive either pectoralis-serratus interfascial plane block, PS group (n=32), or thoracic paravertebral block, PV group (n=32). Twenty-four-hour morphine consumption and the time to rescue analgesic were recorded. The pain intensity evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) score at 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24hours postoperatively was also recorded. The median (interquartile range) postoperative 24-hour morphine consumption was significantly increased in PS group in comparison to PV group (PS vs PV), 20 mg (16-23 mg) vs 12 mg (10-14 mg) (Pplane block was safe and easy to perform and decreased intensity of postmastectomy pain, but it was inferior to thoracic paravertebral block. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. The effect of transversus abdominis plane block or local anaesthetic infiltration in inguinal hernia repair

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Pernille Lykke; Mathiesen, Ole; Stjernholm, Pia

    2013-01-01

    was evaluated versus placebo and versus an active comparator (ilioinguinal block and wound infiltration). DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Single centre trial. Study period from June 2010 to November 2011. PATIENTS: Adults (18 to 75 years) with American Society of Anesthesiologists' status 1...

  6. Novel ultrasound-guided inter-semispinal plane block: a comparative pilot study in healthy volunteers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohgoshi, Yuichi; Nishizakura, Ryo; Takahashi, Yuki; Takeda, Keisuke; Nakayama, Hirosuke; Kawamata, Mariko; Kurahashi, Kiyoyasu

    2018-02-01

    We previously reported that a novel multifidus cervicis plane (MCP) block could anesthetize the dorsal rami of the cervical spinal nerves. While MCP sonoanatomy is easily detectable in most patients, it is sometimes difficult to recognize the MCP injection plane, especially in elderly patients. Thus, we proposed the inter-semispinal plane (ISP) block as an alternative for the MCP block. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the ISP block by evaluating the area and duration of anesthesia, compared with that of the MCP block in eight healthy volunteers. Each participant underwent unilateral ultrasound-guided MCP block and ISP block. For each block, 20 ml of ropivacaine 0.2% was injected, and the area of anesthesia was determined using the pinprick test. The anesthetic area ranged from C4 to T2 (3/8; 37.5%), T3 (2/8; 25%), or T4 (3/8; 37.5%) in the MCP block, and from C4 to T1 (1/8; 12.5%), T2 (3/8; 37.5%), T3 (2/8; 25%), or T4 (1/8; 12.5%) in the ISP block. The mean (standard deviation) duration of sensory loss following MCP and ISP blocks was 329 (77) min and 349 (70) min, respectively. Thus, the ISP block may be a reliable alternative to the MCP block.

  7. Rectus abdominis muscle endometriosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goker, A.

    2014-01-01

    Endometriosis is characterized by an abnormal existence of functional endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity, typically occuring within the pelvis of women in reproductive age. We report two cases with endometriosis of the abdominal wall; the first one in the rectus abdominis muscle and the second one in the surgical scar of previous caesarean incision along with the rectus abdominis muscle. Pre-operative evaluation included magnetic resonance imaging. The masses were dissected free from the surrounding tissue and excised with clear margins. Diagnosis of the excised lesions were verified by histopathology. (author)

  8. Erector spinae plane block for radical mastectomy: A new indication?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veiga, M; Costa, D; Brazão, I

    2018-02-01

    The erector spinae plane block is a technique recently described by Forero et al. in September 2016. It has applications in the control of chronic pain with neuropathic component of the chest wall, and for pain control in thoracoscopic surgery. In this article, we describe the use of this technique as part of a multimodal analgesic approach in a 40-year-old woman, who underwent radical mastectomy due to breast cancer. By performing this block before anesthetic induction, we have achieved an opioid sparing effect, avoiding a possible immunomodulatory effect, although not yet proven in humans. During hospitalization, the patient reported no pain (0/10 in numeric scale), without resorting to rescue analgesia. The easy, fast and safe execution of erector spinae plane block makes it a promising technique in the context of surgical pain during radical mastectomy. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  9. Addition of clonidine to bupivacaine in transversus abdominis plane block prolongs postoperative analgesia after cesarean section

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranju Singh

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: Addition of clonidine 1 μg/kg to 20 ml bupivacaine 0.25% in TAP block bilaterally for cesarean section significantly increases the duration of postoperative analgesia, decreases postoperative analgesic requirement, and increases maternal comfort compared to 20 ml of bupivacaine 0.25% alone.

  10. The Use of Liposomal Bupivacaine in Erector Spinae Plane Block to Minimize Opioid Consumption for Breast Surgery: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Amanda; Hulsey, Alina; Martinez-Wilson, Hector; Kim, James; Gadsden, Jeff

    2018-05-01

    The erector spinae plane block is a novel interfascial plane block that can provide thoracic and abdominal analgesia. We describe a patient with opioid intolerance scheduled for breast surgery who received an erector spinae plane block with liposomal bupivacaine as well as a supplemental T1 paravertebral block resulting in profound analgesia throughout her postoperative course. This case report demonstrates that use of liposomal bupivacaine in the erector spinae plane block can be successful in providing extended duration postoperative analgesia and minimizing systemic opioid requirements.

  11. Update on emerging regional techniques and novel local anesthetics in ambulatory anesthesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szafran MJ

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Martin J Szafran, Eldhose Abrahams, Tong Joo Gan Department of Anesthesiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA Abstract: New regional anesthetic techniques have been incorporated into the multimodal approach to postoperative analgesia. Blocks such as the transversus abdominis plane block, adductor canal block, and pectoral nerves blocks all show promise as potential tools used in opioid-sparing techniques, but at the same time have significant limitations to their utility. Novel long-acting formulations of local anesthetics further add to the possible benefit of these blocks, but their application to peripheral nerve blocks is currently being investigated and is not well defined. This review focuses on evaluating the relevant anatomy, technique, and indications of several newer peripheral nerve blocks, the emerging evidence supporting the use of liposomal bupivacaine and SABER®-Bupivacaine, and the application of both in ambulatory anesthesia. Keywords: transversus abdominis plane (TAP block, adductor canal block, pectoral nerves block, regional anesthesia, liposomal bupivacaine, SABER®-Bupivacaine

  12. Rectus Abdominis Endometrioma after Caesarean Section

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Mishin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Isolated rectus abdominis muscle endometriosis is very uncommon with less than 20 case reports being published to date since its first description in 1984 by Amato and Levitt. We report another case of isolated rectus abdominis endometriosis in a 37-year-old patient with a previous caesarian section. We also discuss the diagnostic and treatment particularities in these patients. In our case, the treatment was only surgical and currently the patient is disease-free during the 24-month follow-up.

  13. [Sciatic nerve block "out-of-plane" distal to the bifurcation: effective and safe].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geiser, T; Apel, J; Vicent, O; Büttner, J

    2017-03-01

    Ultrasound guided distal sciatic nerve block (DSB) at bifurcation level shows fast onset and provides excellent success rates. However, its safe performance might be difficult for the unexperienced physician. Just slightly distal to the bifurcation, the tibial nerve (TN) and common fibular nerve (CFN) can be shown clearly separated from each other. Therefore, we investigated if a block done here would provide similar quality results compared to the DSB proximally to the division, with a potentially lower risk of nerve damage. In this randomized, prospective trial, 56 patients per group received either a DSB distal to the bifurcation "out-of-plane" (dist.) or proximally "in-plane" (prox.) with 30 ml of Mepivacaine 1% each. Success was tested by a blinded examiner after 15 and 30 min respectively (sensory and motor block of TN and CFN: 0 = none, 2 = complete, change of skin temperature). Videos of the blocks were inspected by an independent expert retrospectively with regard to the spread of the local anesthetic (LA) and accidental intraneural injection. Cumulative single nerve measurements and temperature changes revealed significant shorter onset and better efficacy (dist/prox: 15 min: 3.13 ± 1.86/1.82 ± 1.62; 30 min: 5.73 ± 1.92/3.21 ± 1.88; T 15 min : 30.3 ± 3.48/28.0 ± 3.67, T 30 min . 33.0 ± 2.46/30.6 ± 3.86; MV/SD; ANOVA; p safe application of the LA, so an effective block can be done with just one injection. DSB slightly distal to the bifurcation, in an out-of-plane technique between the TN and CFN, can be done fast, effectively and safe.

  14. Adding magnesium sulfate to bupivacaine in transversus abdominis plane block for laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A single blinded randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K Al-Refaey

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: Adding MgSo4 as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in TAP block; during anesthesia for LC; improved postoperative analgesia in the form of increased duration, decreased analgesic requirements and PONV.

  15. Successful emergency pain control for posterior rib fractures with ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luftig, Josh; Mantuani, Daniel; Herring, Andrew A; Dixon, Brittany; Clattenburg, Eben; Nagdev, Arun

    2017-12-28

    The Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma and Trauma Anesthesiology Society Guidelines recommend prompt and effective multimodal analgesia for rib fractures that combines regional anesthesia (RA) techniques with pharmacotherapy to treat pain, optimize pulmonary function, and reduce opioid related complications. However, RA techniques such as epidurals and paravertebral blocks, are generally underutilized or unavailable for emergency department (ED) patients. The recently described serratus anterior plane block (SAPB) is a promising technique, but failures with posterior rib fractures have been observed. The erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is conceptually similar to the SAPB, but targets the posterior thorax making it likely more effective for ED patients with posterior rib fractures. Our initial experience demonstrates consistent success with the ESPB for traumatic posterior rib fracture analgesia. Herein, we present the first description of the ESPB utilized in the ED. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Myositis ossificans in rectus abdominis muscle: case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ko, Eun Sook; Na, Jae Boem

    2004-01-01

    Myositis ossificans is an ossifying inflammatory lesion occurring within skeletal muscle. Myositis ossificans usually arises in the large muscles of the extremities and this lesion is characterized by progression of mineralization from periphery to center. In the early phase, myositis ossificans simulates malignant soft tissue tumor without dense mineralization. Traumatic myositis ossificans in rectus abdominis muscle has been reported worldwide. The radiologic findings of early active myositis ossificans in rectus abdominis muscle are ill defined heterogenous hypoechoic mass on US, hemorrhage, early strong enhancement and early peripheral mineralization on CT and MR

  17. Myositis ossificans in rectus abdominis muscle: case report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ko, Eun Sook; Na, Jae Boem [Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju (Korea, Republic of)

    2004-10-15

    Myositis ossificans is an ossifying inflammatory lesion occurring within skeletal muscle. Myositis ossificans usually arises in the large muscles of the extremities and this lesion is characterized by progression of mineralization from periphery to center. In the early phase, myositis ossificans simulates malignant soft tissue tumor without dense mineralization. Traumatic myositis ossificans in rectus abdominis muscle has been reported worldwide. The radiologic findings of early active myositis ossificans in rectus abdominis muscle are ill defined heterogenous hypoechoic mass on US, hemorrhage, early strong enhancement and early peripheral mineralization on CT and MR.

  18. Endoscopic Rectus Abdominis and Prepubic Aponeurosis Repairs for Treatment of Athletic Pubalgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuda, Dean K; Matsuda, Nicole A; Head, Rachel; Tivorsak, Tanya

    2017-02-01

    Review of the English orthopaedic literature reveals no prior report of endoscopic repair of rectus abdominis tears and/or prepubic aponeurosis detachment. This technical report describes endoscopic reattachment of an avulsed prepubic aponeurosis and endoscopic repair of a vertical rectus abdominis tear immediately after endoscopic pubic symphysectomy for coexistent recalcitrant osteitis pubis as a single-stage outpatient surgery. Endoscopic rectus abdominis repair and prepubic aponeurosis repair are feasible surgeries that complement endoscopic pubic symphysectomy for patients with concurrent osteitis pubis and expand the less invasive options for patients with athletic pubalgia.

  19. Transversus abdominal plane (TAP) block for postoperative pain management: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakobsson, Jan; Wickerts, Liselott; Forsberg, Sune; Ledin, Gustaf

    2015-01-01

    Transversus abdominal plane (TAP) block has a long history and there is currently extensive clinical experience around TAP blocks. The aim of this review is to provide a summary of the present evidence on the effects of TAP block and to provide suggestions for further studies. There are several approaches to performing abdominal wall blocks, with the rapid implementation of ultrasound-guided technique facilitating a major difference in TAP block performance. During surgery, an abdominal wall block may also be applied by the surgeon from inside the abdominal cavity. Today, there are more than 11 meta-analyses providing a compiled evidence base around the effects of TAP block. These analyses include different procedures, different techniques of TAP block administration and, importantly, they compare the TAP block with a variety of alternative analgesic regimes. The effects of TAP block during laparoscopic cholecystectomy seem to be equivalent to local infiltration analgesia and also seem to be beneficial during laparoscopic colon resection. The effects of TAP are more pronounced when it is provided prior to surgery and these effects are local anaesthesia dose-dependent. TAP block seems an interesting alternative in patients with, for example, severe obesity where epidural or spinal anaesthesia/analgesia is technically difficult and/or poses a risk. There is an obvious need for further high-quality studies comparing TAP block prior to surgery with local infiltration analgesia, single-shot spinal analgesia, and epidural analgesia. These studies should be procedure-specific and the effects should be evaluated, both regarding short-term pain and analgesic requirement and also including the effects on postoperative nausea and vomiting, recovery of bowel function, ambulation, discharge, and protracted recovery outcomes (assessed by e.g., postoperative quality of recovery scale).

  20. Real-time three-dimensional ultrasound-assisted axillary plexus block defines soft tissue planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clendenen, Steven R; Riutort, Kevin; Ladlie, Beth L; Robards, Christopher; Franco, Carlo D; Greengrass, Roy A

    2009-04-01

    Two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound is commonly used for regional block of the axillary brachial plexus. In this technical case report, we described a real-time three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound-guided axillary block. The difference between 2D and 3D ultrasound is similar to the difference between plain radiograph and computer tomography. Unlike 2D ultrasound that captures a planar image, 3D ultrasound technology acquires a 3D volume of information that enables multiple planes of view by manipulating the image without movement of the ultrasound probe. Observation of the brachial plexus in cross-section demonstrated distinct linear hyperechoic tissue structures (loose connective tissue) that initially inhibited the flow of the local anesthesia. After completion of the injection, we were able to visualize the influence of arterial pulsation on the spread of the local anesthesia. Possible advantages of this novel technology over current 2D methods are wider image volume and the capability to manipulate the planes of the image without moving the probe.

  1. Rectus abdominis muscle flap for repair of prepubic tendon rupture in 8 dogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archipow, Wendy; Lanz, Otto I

    2011-11-01

    The clinical use and outcome of the rectus abdominis muscle flap to repair prepubic hernias were evaluated retrospectively. Medical records (2002-2007) of 8 dogs that had a rectus abdominis muscle flap to repair traumatic prepubic tendon rupture were reviewed. Only minor donor site complications were noted, including self-limiting ventral and hind-limb swelling. No long-term complications including recurrence of hernia were noted. The results of this study indicate that the rectus abdominis muscle flap is a clinically useful option for repairing prepubic tendon rupture in dogs.

  2. Analgesic effect of bilateral subcostal tap block after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karam, K.; Khan, B.I.

    2018-01-01

    Pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is mild to moderate in intensity. Several modalities are employed for achieving safe and effective postoperative analgesia, the benefits of which adds to the early recovery of the patients. As a part of multimodal analgesia, various approaches of Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been used for management of parietal and incisional components of pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This study was designed to compare the analgesic efficacy of two different approaches of ultrasound guided TAP block, i.e., Subcostal-TAP block technique with ultrasound guided Posterior-TAP block for post-operative pain management in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia. Methods: In this double blinded randomized controlled study, consecutive nonprobability sampling was done and a total of 126 patients admitted for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected. After induction of general anaesthesia, patients were randomized through draw method and received either ultrasound guided posterior TAP block with 0.375% bupivacaine (20ml volume) on each side of the abdomen or subcostal TAP block bilaterally with the same. Up to 24 hours postoperatively, static and dynamic numeric rating pain scores were assessed. Results: We found statistically significant difference in mean static pain scores over 24 hours postoperatively in subcostal TAP group, suggesting improved analgesia. However, mean dynamic postoperative pain scores were comparable between the two groups. Whereas, patients in both groups were satisfied with pain management. Conclusions: Ultrasound guided subcostal TAP block provides better postoperative analgesia as compared to the Posterior TAP block in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Otherwise both of the approaches improve patient outcomes towards early recovery and discharge from hospital. (author)

  3. Diaphragmatic hernia repair using a rectus abdominis muscle pedicle flap in three dogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chantawong, P; Komin, K; Banlunara, W; Kalpravidh, M

    2013-01-01

    To report the clinical use of a pedicle flap from the rectus abdominis muscle to repair extensive diaphragmatic tears in dogs with diaphragmatic hernia. Three dogs with a combination of radial and circumferential diaphragmatic tears were studied. The circumferential tear was repaired by suturing the wound edge with the edge at the abdominal wall. A pedicle flap of the rectus abdominis muscle was used for repairing the radial tear. The dogs were examined radiographically for lung and diaphragm appearance and evidence of reherniation at 10 days, and at one, two, and four months after surgery, and fluoroscopically for paradoxical motion of the diaphragm at one and four months. The rectus abdominis muscle pedicle flap was successfully used in all three dogs. The animals recovered uneventfully without evidence of reherniation during the four follow-up months. Fluoroscopic examination revealed no paradoxical motion of the diaphragm. A rectus abdominis muscle pedicle flap can be used for repairing large diaphragmatic defects in dogs.

  4. Interventional Management for Pelvic Pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagpal, Ameet S; Moody, Erika L

    2017-08-01

    Interventional procedures can be applied for diagnostic evaluation and treatment of the patient with pelvic pain, often once more conservative measures have failed to provide relief. This article reviews interventional management strategies for pelvic pain. We review superior and inferior hypogastric plexus blocks, ganglion impar blocks, transversus abdominis plane blocks, ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric and genitofemoral blocks, pudendal nerve blocks, and selective nerve root blocks. Additionally, we discuss trigger point injections, sacroiliac joint injections, and neuromodulation approaches. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Transversus abdominis plane block after laparoscopic colonic resection in cancer patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Torup, Henrik; Hansen, Egon G; Bøgeskov, Mikkel Bjerregaard

    2016-01-01

    with 20 ml of either ropivacaine or isotonic saline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores (0 to 100 mm) while coughing at 6 h after surgery (primary outcome). Secondary outcomes were area under the curve pain scores (2 to 24 h) at rest and while coughing, 24-h morphine...

  6. The ultrasound-guided nerve blocks of abdominal wall contributed to anesthetic management of cholecystectomy in a patient with Becker muscular dystrophy without using muscle relaxants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwata, Masato; Kuzumoto, Naoya; Akasaki, Yuka; Morioka, Masayo; Nakayama, Kana; Matsuzawa, Nobuyoshi; Kimoto, Katsuhiro; Shimomura, Toshiyuki

    2017-01-01

    Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a progressive neuromuscular disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. The sensitivity to non-depolarizing muscle relaxant in a patient with muscle dystrophy is reportedly higher than that in normal individuals, and the duration of the effect is known to be prolonged. In this report, we present the case of a 58-year-old man with BMD who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for symptomatic cholelithiasis under total intravenous anesthesia without the use of muscle-relaxant drugs and supplemented with regional anesthesia. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with propofol, remifentanil, and fentanyl; ultrasound-guided bilateral rectus sheath block (RSB) and right-sided subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (TAP) were performed. The procedure required conversion to open surgery because of hard conglutination; intraoperative and postoperative periods were uneventful. Adequate analgesia was maintained after extubation because of the effect of RSB and TAP.

  7. Soccer Attenuates the Asymmetry of Rectus Abdominis Muscle Observed in Non-Athletes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idoate, Fernando; Calbet, Jose A. L.; Izquierdo, Mikel; Sanchis-Moysi, Joaquin

    2011-01-01

    Purpose To determine the volume and degree of asymmetry of the rectus abdominis muscle (RA) in professional soccer players. Methods The volume of the RA was determined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 15 professional male soccer players and 6 non-active male control subjects. Results Soccer players had 26% greater RA volume than controls (Psoccer players (P = 0.42) and in controls (P = 0.75) (Dominant/non-dominant = 0.99, in both groups). Segmental analysis showed a progressive increase in the degree of side-to-side asymmetry from the first lumbar disc to the pubic symphysis in soccer players (r = 0.80, Psoccer players, although this trend was not statistically significant (P = 0.14). Conclusions Professional soccer is associated with marked hypertrophy of the rectus abdominis muscle, which achieves a volume that is 26% greater than in non-active controls. Soccer induces the hypertrophy of the non-dominant side in proximal regions and the dominant side in regions closer to pubic symphysis, which attenuates the pattern of asymmetry of rectus abdominis observed in non-active population. It remains to be determined whether the hypertrophy of rectus abdominis in soccer players modifies the risk of injury. PMID:21541351

  8. SELECTIVE ACTIVATION OF THE RECTUS ABDOMINIS MUSCLE DURING LOW-INTENSITY AND FATIGUING TASKS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo H. Marchetti

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In order to understand the potential selective activation of the rectus abdominis muscle, we conducted two experiments. In the first, subjects performed two controlled isometric exercises: the curl up (supine trunk raise and the leg raise (supine bent leg raise at low intensity (in which only a few motor units are recruited. In the second experiment, subjects performed the same exercises, but they were required to maintain a certain force level in order to induce fatigue. We recorded the electromyographic (EMG activities of the lower and upper portions of the rectus abdominis muscle during the exercises and used spatial-temporal and frequency analyses to describe muscle activation patterns. At low-intensity contractions, the ratio between the EMG intensities of the upper and lower portions during the curl up exercise was significantly larger than during the leg raise exercise (p = 0.02. A cross-correlation analysis indicated that the signals of the abdominal portions were related to each other and this relation did not differ between the tasks (p = 0.12. In the fatiguing condition, fatigue for the upper portion was higher than for the lower portion during the curl up exercise (p = 0.008. We conclude that different exercises evoked, to a certain degree, individualized activation of each part of the rectus abdominis muscle, but different portions of the rectus abdominis muscle contributed to the same task, acting like a functional unit. These results corroborate the relevance of varying exercise to modify activation patterns of the rectus abdominis muscle

  9. Erector spinae plane (ESP) block in the management of post thoracotomy pain syndrome: A case series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forero, Mauricio; Rajarathinam, Manikandan; Adhikary, Sanjib; Chin, Ki Jinn

    2017-10-01

    Post thoracotomy pain syndrome (PTPS) remains a common complication of thoracic surgery with significant impact on patients' quality of life. Management usually involves a multidisciplinary approach that includes oral and topical analgesics, performing appropriate interventional techniques, and coordinating additional care such as physiotherapy, psychotherapy and rehabilitation. A variety of interventional procedures have been described to treat PTPS that is inadequately managed with systemic or topical analgesics. Most of these procedures are technically complex and are associated with risks and complications due to the proximity of the targets to neuraxial structures and pleura. The ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a novel technique for thoracic analgesia that promises to be a relatively simple and safe alternative to more complex and invasive techniques of neural blockade. We have explored the application of the ESP block in the management of PTPS and report our preliminary experience to illustrate its therapeutic potential. The ESP block was performed in a pain clinic setting in a cohort of 7 patients with PTPS following thoracic surgery with lobectomy or pneumonectomy for lung cancer. The blocks were performed with ultrasound guidance by injecting 20-30mL of ropivacaine, with or without steroid, into a fascial plane between the deep surface of erector spinae muscle and the transverse processes of the thoracic vertebrae. This paraspinal tissue plane is distant from the pleura and the neuraxis, thus minimizing the risk of complications associated with injury to these structures. The patients were followed up by telephone one week after each block and reviewed in the clinic 4-6 weeks later to evaluate the analgesic response as well as the need for further injections and modification to the overall analgesic plan. All the patients had excellent immediate pain relief following each ESP block, and 4 out of the 7 patients experienced prolonged

  10. Adding Sufentanil to TAP Block Hyperbaric Bupivacaine Decreases Post-Cesarean Delivery Morphine Consumption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laleh Eslamian

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Pain management is crucially important in the postoperative period as it increases patient comfort and satisfaction. The primary outcome of present study was to evaluate the effect of sufentanil added to hyperbaric bupivacaine solution 0.25% in transversus abdominis plane (TAP block, on postoperative analgesic consumption. Fifty ASA physical status I–II term primiparous single-tone pregnant women aged 20–40 years scheduled for elective cesarean delivery with Pfannenstiel incision under general anaesthesia were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ultrasound guided TAP block was performed at the end of surgery. Patients were randomly enrolled into two groups. Patients in the study group received 20 ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.25% plus 1mL of sufentanil on either side while patients in the placebo group were administered 20 ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.25% along with 1mL of placebo. Post-cesarean delivery visual analogue scale (VAS for pain and morphine usage were measured and recorded. The morphine consumption was significantly less in the study group (37.2 ± 16.1 mg than the control group (52.8 ± 16.7 mg, P =0.002.The VAS for pain both in rest and coughing were same in groups. Sufentanil added to 0.25% hyperbaric bupivacaine in TAP block decreases post cesarean delivery morphine consumption.

  11. Large asymmetric hypertrophy of rectus abdominis muscle in professional tennis players.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joaquin Sanchis-Moysi

    Full Text Available PURPOSE: To determine the volume and degree of asymmetry of the musculus rectus abdominis (RA in professional tennis players. METHODS: The volume of the RA was determined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI in 8 professional male tennis players and 6 non-active male control subjects. RESULTS: Tennis players had 58% greater RA volume than controls (P = 0.01, due to hypertrophy of both the dominant (34% greater volume, P = 0.02 and non-dominant (82% greater volume, P = 0.01 sides, after accounting for age, the length of the RA muscle and body mass index (BMI as covariates. In tennis players, there was a marked asymmetry in the development of the RA, which volume was 35% greater in the non-dominant compared to the dominant side (P<0.001. In contrast, no side-to-side difference in RA volume was observed in the controls (P = 0.75. The degree of side-to-side asymmetry increased linearly from the first lumbar disc to the pubic symphysis (r = 0.97, P<0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Professional tennis is associated with marked hypertrophy of the musculus rectus abdominis, which achieves a volume that is 58% greater than in non-active controls. Rectus abdominis hypertrophy is more marked in the non-dominant than in the dominant side, particularly in the more distal regions. Our study supports the concept that humans can differentially recruit both rectus abdominis but also the upper and lower regions of each muscle. It remains to be determined if this disequilibrium raises the risk of injury.

  12. Reliability of Rehabilitative Ultrasonography to Measure Transverse Abdominis and Multifidus Muscle Dimensions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nabavi, Narjes; Mosallanezhad, Zahra; Haghighatkhah, Hamid Reza; Mohseni Bandpeid, Mohammad Ali

    2014-01-01

    Lumbar paraspinal muscles play an important role in providing both mobility and stability during dynamic tasks. Among paraspinal muscles, transverse abdominis and lumbar multifidus have been of particular interest as active stabilizers of the lumbar spine. These muscles may become dysfunctional in chronic low back pain (CLBP). Low back injury can result in muscle inhibition and control loss that cannot recover spontaneously, and specific exercises are required to stimulate their recovery. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability of ultrasonography to measure muscle dimensions and to present a reliable method for measuring transverse abdominis and lumbar multifidus as stabilizing muscles of the lumbar spine. Fifteen healthy participants (18-55 year olds) were evaluated by a radiologist using ultrasonography (ES500) with two probes (50mm linear 7.5 MHZ and 70 mm curvilinear 3.5 MHz). The muscle thickness of transverse abdominis and the anterior-posterior diameter and cross sectional area of the LMF were measured. To determine within and between days reliabilities, second and third measurements were repeated with half an hour and one week intervals, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficient for left and right showed good to high reliability for the cross sectional area of lumbar multifidi (0.74 and 0.88, respectively) as well as the anterior-posterior dimensions of lumbar multifidi (0.89 and 0.91, respectively) and transverse abdomini thickness (0.73 and 0.85, respectively). Rehabilitative ultrasonography is a reliable and non-invasive instrument to measure muscle thickness. The method used in this study is a reliable way to measure lumbar stabilizing muscles

  13. Soccer attenuates the asymmetry of rectus abdominis muscle observed in non-athletes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Idoate

    Full Text Available PURPOSE: To determine the volume and degree of asymmetry of the rectus abdominis muscle (RA in professional soccer players. METHODS: The volume of the RA was determined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI in 15 professional male soccer players and 6 non-active male control subjects. RESULTS: Soccer players had 26% greater RA volume than controls (P<0.05, due to hypertrophy of both the dominant (28% greater volume, P<0.05 and non-dominant (25% greater volume, P<0.01 sides, after adjusting for age, length of the RA muscle and body mass index (BMI as covariates. Total volume of the dominant side was similar to the contralateral in soccer players (P = 0.42 and in controls (P = 0.75 (Dominant/non-dominant = 0.99, in both groups. Segmental analysis showed a progressive increase in the degree of side-to-side asymmetry from the first lumbar disc to the pubic symphysis in soccer players (r = 0.80, P<0.05 and in controls (r = 0.75, P<0.05. The slope of the relationship was lower in soccer players, although this trend was not statistically significant (P = 0.14. CONCLUSIONS: Professional soccer is associated with marked hypertrophy of the rectus abdominis muscle, which achieves a volume that is 26% greater than in non-active controls. Soccer induces the hypertrophy of the non-dominant side in proximal regions and the dominant side in regions closer to pubic symphysis, which attenuates the pattern of asymmetry of rectus abdominis observed in non-active population. It remains to be determined whether the hypertrophy of rectus abdominis in soccer players modifies the risk of injury.

  14. Transversus abdominal plane (TAP block for postoperative pain management: a review [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Jakobsson

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Transversus abdominal plane (TAP block has a long history and there is currently extensive clinical experience around TAP blocks. The aim of this review is to provide a summary of the present evidence on the effects of TAP block and to provide suggestions for further studies. There are several approaches to performing abdominal wall blocks, with the rapid implementation of ultrasound-guided technique facilitating a major difference in TAP block performance. During surgery, an abdominal wall block may also be applied by the surgeon from inside the abdominal cavity. Today, there are more than 11 meta-analyses providing a compiled evidence base around the effects of TAP block. These analyses include different procedures, different techniques of TAP block administration and, importantly, they compare the TAP block with a variety of alternative analgesic regimes. The effects of TAP block during laparoscopic cholecystectomy seem to be equivalent to local infiltration analgesia and also seem to be beneficial during laparoscopic colon resection. The effects of TAP are more pronounced when it is provided prior to surgery and these effects are local anaesthesia dose-dependent. TAP block seems an interesting alternative in patients with, for example, severe obesity where epidural or spinal anaesthesia/analgesia is technically difficult and/or poses a risk. There is an obvious need for further high-quality studies comparing TAP block prior to surgery with local infiltration analgesia, single-shot spinal analgesia, and epidural analgesia. These studies should be procedure-specific and the effects should be evaluated, both regarding short-term pain and analgesic requirement and also including the effects on postoperative nausea and vomiting, recovery of bowel function, ambulation, discharge, and protracted recovery outcomes (assessed by e.g., postoperative quality of recovery scale.

  15. In-plane ultrasound-guided thoracic paravertebral block: a preliminary report of 36 cases with radiologic confirmation of catheter position.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Renes, S.H.; Bruhn, J.; Gielen, M.J.M.; Scheffer, G.J.; Geffen, G.J. van

    2010-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) can be used for unilateral surgical procedures. Modifications of the classic approach have been proposed to minimize the risk of pleural puncture. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and success rate of a transverse in-plane

  16. Continuous Transversus Abdominis Plane Nerve Blocks: Does Varying Local Anesthetic Delivery Method-Automatic Repeated Bolus Versus Continuous Basal Infusion-Influence the Extent of Sensation to Cold?: A Randomized, Triple-Masked, Crossover Study in Volunteers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khatibi, Bahareh; Said, Engy T; Sztain, Jacklynn F; Monahan, Amanda M; Gabriel, Rodney A; Furnish, Timothy J; Tran, Johnathan T; Donohue, Michael C; Ilfeld, Brian M

    2017-04-01

    It remains unknown whether continuous or scheduled intermittent bolus local anesthetic administration is preferable for transversus abdominis plane (TAP) catheters. We therefore tested the hypothesis that when using TAP catheters, providing local anesthetic in repeated bolus doses increases the cephalad-caudad cutaneous effects compared with a basal-only infusion. Bilateral TAP catheters (posterior approach) were inserted in 24 healthy volunteers followed by ropivacaine 2 mg/mL administration for a total of 6 hours. The right side was randomly assigned to either a basal infusion (8 mL/h) or bolus doses (24 mL administered every 3 hours for a total of 2 bolus doses) in a double-masked manner. The left side received the alternate treatment. The primary end point was the extent of sensory deficit as measured by cool roller along the axillary line at hour 6 (6 hours after the local anesthetic administration was initiated). Secondary end points included the extent of sensory deficit as measured by cool roller and Von Frey filaments along the axillary line and along a transverse line at the level of the anterior superior iliac spine at hours 0 to 6. Although there were statistically significant differences between treatments within the earlier part of the administration period, by hour 6 the difference in extent of sensory deficit to cold failed to reach statistical significance along the axillary line (mean = 0.9 cm; SD = 6.8; 95% confidence interval -2.0 to 3.8; P = .515) and transverse line (mean = 2.5 cm; SD = 10.1; 95% confidence interval -1.8 to 6.8; P = .244). Although the difference between treatments was statistically significant at various early time points for the horizontal, vertical, and estimated area measurements of both cold and mechanical pressure sensory deficits, no comparison remained statistically significant by hour 6. No evidence was found in this study involving healthy volunteers to support the hypothesis that changing the local anesthetic

  17. Opioid-sparing effects of the thoracic interfascial plane blocks: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Preet Mohinder; Borle, Anuradha; Kaur, Manpreet; Trikha, Anjan; Sinha, Ashish

    2018-01-01

    Thoracic interfascial plane blocks and modification (PECS) have recently gained popularity for analgesic potential during breast surgery. We evaluate/consolidate the evidence on opioid-sparing effect of PECS blocks in comparison with conventional intravenous analgesia (IVA) and paravertebral block (PVB). Prospective, randomized controlled trials comparing PECS block to conventional IVA or PVB in patients undergoing breast surgery published till June 2017 were searched in the medical database. Comparisons were made for 24-h postoperative morphine consumption and intraoperative fentanyl-equivalent consumption. Final analysis included nine trials (PECS vs. IVA 4 trials and PECS vs. PVB 5 trials). PECS block showed a decreased intraoperative fentanyl consumption over IVA by 49.20 mcg (95% confidence interval [CI] =42.67-55.74) ( I 2 = 98.47%, P consumption with PECS block was lower than IVA by 7.66 mg (95% CI being 6.23-9.10) ( I 2 = 63.15, P < 0.001) but was higher than PVB group by 1.26 mg (95% CI being 0.91-1.62) ( I 2 = 99.53%, P < 0.001). Two cases of pneumothorax were reported with PVB, and no complication was reported in any other group. Use of PECS block and its modifications with general anesthesia for breast surgery has significant opioid-sparing effect intraoperatively and during the first 24 h after surgery. It also has higher intraoperative opioid-sparing effect when compared to PVB. During the 1 st postoperative day, PVB has slightly more morphine sparing potential that may however be associated with higher complication rates. The present PECS block techniques show marked interstudy variations and need standardization.

  18. The incidence and location of diastasis rectus abdominis during the childbearing year and puerperium at the maternity hospital Ljubljana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mateja Šerbec Medjimurec

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: The purpose of the research was to determine the prevalence and location of diastasis recti abdominis muscle (DRA during pregnancy and puerperium in women in the Ljubljana maternity hospital. Methods: The study sample included sixty randomly selected women; forty-five pregnant and postpartum women were recruited from the Ljubljana Maternity Hospital, and fifteen non-pregnant women from the larger Ljubljana area as a control group. All women were examined for the presence or absence of diastasis recti abdominis muscle along with the most and least likely location along the white lines. The measurements were performed by the finger-width method. Results: The findings indicate that the diastasis recti abdominis muscle increases with the progression of pregnancy. In the case of non-pregnant women, the diastasis is not present. The presence of DRA was first observed in the second trimester of pregnancy (9.5 % and was most common in the third trimester (52.4 %. After birth, the incidence decreased (38.1 %. The majority of diastasis recti abdominis cases were observed in the umbilical area (52.6 % in the third trimester. In the puerperium group three days after childbirth the diastasis below the umbilicus was most common (60.0 % and slightly less common above the umbilicus (53.8 %. Conclusion: Diastasis recti abdominis muscle during pregnancy and after childbirth is a common condition. It is therefore recommended that all women should be timely examined for the presence of DRA before and after birth along the linea alba to start timely and adequate physiotherapy treatment. Health professionals as well as sports teachers and coaches who work with pregnant and puerperium women should be educated/trained in the field of testing and treatment of diastasis recti abdominis muscle.

  19. Rectus abdominis muscle injuries in elite handball players: management and rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Balius R

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Ramon Balius1, Carles Pedret2, Laura Pacheco1, Josep Antoni Gutierrez3, Joan Vives4, Jaume Escoda11Consell Català de l’Esport, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona; 2Centro Mapfre de Medicina del Tenis, Barcelona; 3Spanish National Handball Team, Spain; 4Granollers Handball Club, Granollers, Barcelona, SpainAbstract: Muscle injuries generally occur in two-joint muscles with a high percentage of type II fibers during the performance of eccentric activity. Some muscle injuries, such as those located in the adductor longus, a monoarticular muscle, as well as rectus abdominis do not fully comply with these requirements. This study examines five cases of elite handball players with ruptured rectus abdominals. Sonographically, lesions in rectus abdominis are shown as a disruption of the fibrillar pattern with a hematic suffusion that invades the entire lesion. In some of the cases, the ultrasound study was complemented with a MRI. A unified rehabilitation protocol was applied and the return to play time of each handball player ranged between 16 and 22 days, with an average of 18.2 days. Follow-up at 15 months showed no evidence of re-injury or residual discomfort and all of them are playing at their highest level. The aim of this study was to illustrate a feature of handball injury that, as in tennis and volleyball, is uncommon and so far has not been specifically reported. The phenomenon of contralateral abdominal hypertrophy in handball appears in the dominant arm as in tennis and volleyball.Keywords: rectus abdominis, muscle injury, sonography, MRI, handball 

  20. On multiple blocking sets in Galois planes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blokhuis, A.; Lovász, L.; Storme, L.; Szönyi, T.

    2007-01-01

    This article continues the study of multiple blocking sets in PG(2, q). In [A. Blokhuis, L. Storme, T. Szonyi, Lacunary polynomials, multiple blocking sets and Baer subplanes. J. London Math. Soc. (2) 60 (1999), 321–332. MR1724814 (2000j:05025) Zbl 0940.51007], using lacunary polynomials, it was

  1. Pre-emptive administration of intravenous acetaminophen with transversus abdominis plane block (tap-blocke in the prevention of fentanil-induced hyperalgesia in pediatric oncological patient undergoing abdominal surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmytro Dmytriiev

    2015-10-01

      Abstract Background: Acetaminophen is a selective COX-2 agonist that has been shown to decrease the intensity of opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH in children. We aimed to investigate the effects of preemptive administration of intravenous acitomenofen  in the prevention of high-dose fentanil-induced hyperalgesia in pediatric patients. Methods: 45 patients of  American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 1-3 undergoing abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups. each of which received either IV acetaminophen  (an initial dose of 1.5 ml/kg for 40 min before before the induction of anesthesia or placebo saline 40 min before the induction of anesthesia and intraoperative fentanil infusion: group LFH received a placebo and 0.05 μg/kg/min fentanil; group FH received a placebo and 0.3 μg/kg/min fentanil; and group AFH received IV preemptive administration acetaminophen  and TAP-blocke bupivacaine 0,3 mg/kg.             Results: The mechanical hyperalgesia threshold 12 hr after surgery was significantly lower in group FH than in the other two groups. Postoperative pain intensity using visual analog scale (VAS and cumulative volume of a patient controlled analgesia (PCA containing morphine over 12 hr were significantly greater in group FH than in group AFH. The time to the first postoperative analgesic requirement was significantly shorter in group RH than in the other two groups. The sevoflurane requirement was significantly greater in group LFH than in the other groups. The frequency of hypotension and bradycardia was significantly higher, but shivering and postoperative nausea and vomiting were significantly lower in group AFH than in the other two groups. Conclusions: High-doses of fentanil induced hyperalgesia, which presented a decreased mechanical hyperalgesia threshold, enhanced pain intensity, a shorter time to first postoperative analgesic requirement, and greater morphine consumption, but IV

  2. Analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided paravertebral block versus serratus plane block for modified radical mastectomy: A randomised, controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kapil Gupta

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Modified radical mastectomy (MRM may be associated with severe post-operative pain, leading to chronic pain syndrome. We compared the post-operative analgesic profile of two ultrasound-guided nerve blocks: Paravertebral block (PVB and serratus plane block (SPB. Methods: This double-blind, randomised study was conducted on fifty adult females, scheduled for MRM with axillary dissection. After inducing general anaesthesia with intravenous midazolam 1 mg, fentanyl 1.5 mcg/kg, propofol 1–2 mg/kg and vecuronium 0.1 mg/kg, patients were administered either ultrasound-guided thoracic PVB at T4 (n = 25 or SPB at 5th rib (n = 25 with 20 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine, both as a single level injection. Time to first rescue analgesia and morphine consumption in 4, 6, 24, 48 and 72 h by PCA pump, visual analogue scale score and any adverse effects were recorded. Quantitative variables were compared using the unpaired t-test or the Mann–Whitney U test between the two groups. Qualitative variables were compared using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Results: The duration of analgesia (mean ± Standard deviation [SD] was significantly longer in the PVB group compared to SPB group (346 ± 57 min vs. 245.6 ± 58 min, P< 0.001. The post-operative 24 h morphine consumption (mean ± SD was significantly higher in the SPB group (9.7 ± 2.1 mg compared to PVB group (6.5 ± 1.5 mg (P < 0.001. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided SPB is an alternative analgesic technique to thoracic PVB for MRM although PVB provides a longer duration of analgesia.

  3. Transversus abdominal plane block for postoperative analgesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brogi, Etrusca; Kazan, Roy; Cyr, Shantale; Giunta, Francesco; Hemmerling, Thomas M

    2016-10-01

    The transversus abdominal plane (TAP) block has been described as an effective pain control technique after abdominal surgery. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) to account for the increasing number of TAP block studies appearing in the literature. The primary outcome we examined was the effect of TAP block on the postoperative pain score at six, 12, and 24 hr. The secondary outcome was 24-hr morphine consumption. We searched the United States National Library of Medicine database, the Excerpta Medica database, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Studies and identified RCTs focusing on the analgesic efficacy of TAP block compared with a control group [i.e., placebo, epidural analgesia, intrathecal morphine (ITM), and ilioinguinal nerve block after abdominal surgery]. Meta-analyses were performed on postoperative pain scores at rest at six, 12, and 24 hr (visual analogue scale, 0-10) and on 24-hr opioid consumption. In the 51 trials identified, compared with placebo, TAP block reduced the VAS for pain at six hours by 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], -1.9 to -0.8; P consumption at 24 hr after surgery (mean difference, -14.7 mg; 95% CI, -18.4 to -11.0; P consumption in the TAP block group after gynecological surgery, appendectomy, inguinal surgery, bariatric surgery, and urological surgery. Nevertheless, separate analysis of the studies comparing ITM with TAP block revealed that ITM seemed to have a greater analgesic efficacy. The TAP block can play an important role in the management of pain after abdominal surgery by reducing both pain scores and 24-hr morphine consumption. It may have particular utility when neuraxial techniques or opioids are contraindicated.

  4. Thermal-stress analysis of HTGR fuel and control rod fuel blocks in in-block carbonization and annealing furnace

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gwaltney, R.C.; McAfee, W.J.

    1977-01-01

    The equivalent solid plate method, in conjunction with two-dimensional plane stress and plane strain analyses, was used in assessing the thermal stress behavior of HTGR fuel and control rod fuel blocks. For the control rod fuel blocks, particular attention was given to ascertaining the effects of the reserve shutdown hole and the control rod channel holes. The assumed safety factor of 2 on the failure criteria was considered adequate to account for neglecting the axial temperature gradient in the plane analyses of the ends of the blocks. The analyses indicated that the maximum calculated tensile stress values were smaller than the criteria values except for the plane strain analysis of the control rod fuel block end surfaces and the axisymmetric analysis of the fuel block as a circular cylinder. However, most of the maximum calculated strain values were greater than the criteria values

  5. Ultrasound-Guided Out-of-Plane vs. In-Plane Interscalene Catheters: A Randomized, Prospective Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwenk, Eric S; Gandhi, Kishor; Baratta, Jaime L; Torjman, Marc; Epstein, Richard H; Chung, Jaeyoon; Vaghari, Benjamin A; Beausang, David; Bojaxhi, Elird; Grady, Bernadette

    2015-12-01

    Continuous interscalene blocks provide excellent analgesia after shoulder surgery. Although the safety of the ultrasound-guided in-plane approach has been touted, technical and patient factors can limit this approach. We developed a caudad-to-cephalad out-of-plane approach and hypothesized that it would decrease pain ratings due to better catheter alignment with the brachial plexus compared to the in-plane technique in a randomized, controlled study. To compare an out-of-plane interscalene catheter technique to the in-plane technique in a randomized clinical trial. Eighty-four patients undergoing open shoulder surgery were randomized to either the in-plane or out-of-plane ultrasound-guided continuous interscalene technique. The primary outcome was VAS pain rating at 24 hours. Secondary outcomes included pain ratings in the recovery room and at 48 hours, morphine consumption, the incidence of catheter dislodgments, procedure time, and block difficulty. Procedural data and all pain ratings were collected by blinded observers. There were no differences in the primary outcome of median VAS pain rating at 24 hours between the out-of-plane and in-plane groups (1.50; IQR, [0 - 4.38] vs. 1.25; IQR, [0 - 3.75]; P = 0.57). There were also no differences, respectively, between out-of-plane and in-plane median PACU pain ratings (1.0; IQR, [0 - 3.5] vs. 0.25; IQR, [0 - 2.5]; P = 0.08) and median 48-hour pain ratings (1.25; IQR, [1.25 - 2.63] vs. 0.50; IQR, [0 - 1.88]; P = 0.30). There were no differences in any other secondary endpoint. Our out-of-plane technique did not provide superior analgesia to the in-plane technique. It did not increase the number of complications. Our technique is an acceptable alternative in situations where the in-plane technique is difficult to perform.

  6. Ultrasound-Guided Out-of-Plane vs. In-Plane Interscalene Catheters: A Randomized, Prospective Study

    OpenAIRE

    Schwenk, Eric S.; Gandhi, Kishor; Baratta, Jaime L.; Torjman, Marc; Epstein, Richard H.; Chung, Jaeyoon; Vaghari, Benjamin A.; Beausang, David; Bojaxhi, Elird; Grady, Bernadette

    2015-01-01

    Background: Continuous interscalene blocks provide excellent analgesia after shoulder surgery. Although the safety of the ultrasound-guided in-plane approach has been touted, technical and patient factors can limit this approach. We developed a caudad-to-cephalad out-of-plane approach and hypothesized that it would decrease pain ratings due to better catheter alignment with the brachial plexus compared to the in-plane technique in a randomized, controlled study. Objectives: To compare an out-...

  7. Normal postural responses preceding shoulder flexion: co-activation or asymmetric activation of transverse abdominis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davarian, Sanaz; Maroufi, Nader; Ebrahimi, Esmaeil; Parnianpour, Mohammad; Farahmand, Farzam

    2014-01-01

    It is suggested that activation of the transverse abdominis muscle has a stabilizing effect on the lumbar spine by raising intra-abdominal pressure without added disc compression. However, its feedforward activity has remained a controversial issue. In addition, research regarding bilateral activation of trunk muscles during a unilateral arm movement is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate bilateral anticipatory activity of trunk muscles during unilateral arm flexion. Eighteen healthy subjects (aged 25 ± 3.96 years) participated in this study and performed 10 trials of rapid arm flexion in response to a visual stimulus. The electromyographic activity of the right anterior deltoid (AD) and bilateral trunk muscles including the transverse abdominis/internal oblique (TA/IO), superficial lumbar multifidus (SLM) and lumbar erector spine (LES) was recorded. The onset latency and anticipatory activity of the recorded trunk muscles were calculated. The first muscle activated in anticipation of the right arm flexion was the left TA/IO. The right TA/IO activated significantly later than all other trunk muscles (P 0.05). Healthy subjects showed no bilateral anticipatory co-activation of TA/IO in unilateral arm elevation. Further investigations are required to delineate normal muscle activation pattern in healthy subjects prior to prescribing bilateral activation training of transverse abdominis for subjects with chronic low back pain.

  8. Tissue elasticity of in vivo skeletal muscles measured in the transverse and longitudinal planes using shear wave elastography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chino, Kentaro; Kawakami, Yasuo; Takahashi, Hideyuki

    2017-07-01

    The aim of the present study was to measure in vivo skeletal muscle elasticity in the transverse and longitudinal planes using shear wave elastography and then to compare the image stability, measurement values and measurement repeatability between these imaging planes. Thirty-one healthy males participated in this study. Tissue elasticity (shear wave velocity) of the medial gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, biceps brachii and rectus abdominis was measured in both the transverse and longitudinal planes using shear wave elastography. Image stability was evaluated by the standard deviation of the colour distribution in the shear wave elastography image. Measurement repeatability was assessed by the coefficient of variance obtained from three measurement values. Image stability of all tested muscles was significantly higher in the longitudinal plane (Pplanes (P>0·05), except in the biceps brachii (P = 0·001). Measurement values of the medial gastrocnemius, rectus femoris and biceps brachii were significantly different between the imaging planes (Pplane, which indicates that imaging plane should be considered when measuring skeletal muscle tissue elasticity by shear wave elastography. © 2015 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Use of the Anterolateral Thigh and Vertical Rectus Abdominis Musculocutaneous Flaps as Utility Flaps in Reconstructing Large Groin Defects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edwin Jonathan Aslim

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundGroin dissections result in large wounds with exposed femoral vessels requiring soft tissue coverage, and the reconstructive options are diverse. In this study we reviewed our experience with the use of the pedicled anterolateral thigh and vertical rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flaps in the reconstruction of large groin wounds.MethodsGroin reconstructions performed over a period of 10 years were evaluated, with a mean follow up of two years. We included all cases with large or complex (involving perineum defects, which were reconstructed with the pedicled anterolateral thigh musculocutaneous or the vertical rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (VRAM flaps. Smaller wounds which were covered with skin grafts, locally based flaps and pedicled muscle flaps were excluded.ResultsTwenty-three reconstructions were performed for large or complex groin defects, utilising the anterolateral thigh (n=10 and the vertical rectus abdominis (n=13 pedicled musculocutaneous flaps. Femoral vein reconstruction with a prosthetic graft was required in one patient, and a combination flap (VRAM and gracilis muscle flap was performed in another. Satisfactory coverage was achieved in all cases without major complications. No free flaps were used in our series.ConclusionsThe anterolateral thigh and vertical rectus abdominis pedicled musculocutaneous flaps yielded consistent results with little morbidity in the reconstruction of large and complex groin defects. A combination of flaps can be used in cases requiring extensive cover.

  10. Flap Lymphedema after Successful Reconstruction of the Chronic Inguinal Wound with a Vertical Rectus Abdominis Flap (VRAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yalcin Kulahci

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The reconstruction of extensive and complex wounds represents a challenging problem for reconstructive surgeon. The reconstructive options to provide cover-age following debridment of these complicated wounds are local, distant flaps, or freetissue transfer. Vertical rectus abdominis flaps have been used succes-sully to repair defects in the groin, hip, perineal, trunk, and breast regions. We encountered flap lymphedema after successful reconstruction of the chronic in-guinal wound with a vertical rectus abdominis (VRAM flap. As far as were able to ascertain, there is no report in the literature related to flap lymphedema.

  11. Anterior Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome in a Pediatric Patient Previously Diagnosed With Functional Abdominal Pain: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiGiusto, Matthew; Suleman, M-Irfan

    2018-03-23

    Chronic abdominal pain is common in children and adolescents but challenging to diagnose, because practitioners may be concerned about missing serious occult disease. Abdominal wall pain is an often ignored etiology for chronic abdominal pain. Anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome causes abdominal wall pain but is frequently overlooked. Correctly diagnosing patients with anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome is important because nerve block interventions are highly successful in the remittance of pain. Here, we present the case of a pediatric patient who received a diagnosis of functional abdominal pain but experienced pain remittance after receiving a trigger-point injection and transverse abdominis plane block.

  12. Too Deep or Not Too Deep?: A Propensity-Matched Comparison of the Analgesic Effects of a Superficial Versus Deep Serratus Fascial Plane Block for Ambulatory Breast Cancer Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdallah, Faraj W; Cil, Tulin; MacLean, David; Madjdpour, Caveh; Escallon, Jaime; Semple, John; Brull, Richard

    2018-07-01

    Serratus fascial plane block can reduce pain following breast surgery, but the question of whether to inject the local anesthetic superficial or deep to the serratus muscle has not been answered. This cohort study compares the analgesic benefits of superficial versus deep serratus plane blocks in ambulatory breast cancer surgery patients at Women's College Hospital between February 2014 and December 2016. We tested the joint hypothesis that deep serratus block is noninferior to superficial serratus block for postoperative in-hospital (pre-discharge) opioid consumption and pain severity. One hundred sixty-six patients were propensity matched among 2 groups (83/group): superficial and deep serratus blocks. The cohort was used to evaluate the effect of blocks on postoperative oral morphine equivalent consumption and area under the curve for rest pain scores. We considered deep serratus block to be noninferior to superficial serratus block if it were noninferior for both outcomes, within 15 mg morphine and 4 cm·h units margins. Other outcomes included intraoperative fentanyl requirements, time to first analgesic request, recovery room stay, and incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Deep serratus block was associated with postoperative morphine consumption and pain scores area under the curve that were noninferior to those of the superficial serratus block. Intraoperative fentanyl requirements, time to first analgesic request, recovery room stay, and postoperative nausea and vomiting were not different between blocks. The postoperative in-hospital analgesia associated with deep serratus block is as effective (within an acceptable margin) as superficial serratus block following ambulatory breast cancer surgery. These new findings are important to inform both current clinical practices and future prospective studies.

  13. Rectus abdominis muscle injuries in elite handball players: management and rehabilitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balius, Ramon; Pedret, Carles; Pacheco, Laura; Gutierrez, Josep Antoni; Vives, Joan; Escoda, Jaume

    2011-01-01

    Muscle injuries generally occur in two-joint muscles with a high percentage of type II fibers during the performance of eccentric activity. Some muscle injuries, such as those located in the adductor longus, a monoarticular muscle, as well as rectus abdominis do not fully comply with these requirements. This study examines five cases of elite handball players with ruptured rectus abdominals. Sonographically, lesions in rectus abdominis are shown as a disruption of the fibrillar pattern with a hematic suffusion that invades the entire lesion. In some of the cases, the ultrasound study was complemented with a MRI. A unified rehabilitation protocol was applied and the return to play time of each handball player ranged between 16 and 22 days, with an average of 18.2 days. Follow-up at 15 months showed no evidence of re-injury or residual discomfort and all of them are playing at their highest level. The aim of this study was to illustrate a feature of handball injury that, as in tennis and volleyball, is uncommon and so far has not been specifically reported. The phenomenon of contralateral abdominal hypertrophy in handball appears in the dominant arm as in tennis and volleyball. PMID:24198573

  14. Combinatorics associated with inflections and bitangents of plane quartics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gizatullin, M Kh

    2013-01-01

    After a preliminary survey and a description of some small Steiner systems from the standpoint of the theory of invariants of binary forms, we construct a binary Golay code (of length 24) using ideas from J. Grassmann's thesis of 1875. One of our tools is a pair of disjoint Fano planes. Another application of such pairs and properties of plane quartics is a construction of a new block design on 28 objects. This block design is a part of a dissection of the set of 288 Aronhold sevens. The dissection distributes the Aronhold sevens into 8 disjoint block designs of this type

  15. Precession of a Spinning Ball Rolling down an Inclined Plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cross, Rod

    2015-01-01

    A routine problem in an introductory physics course considers a rectangular block at rest on a plane inclined at angle a to the horizontal. In order for the block not to slide down the incline, the coefficient of sliding friction, µ, must be at least tan a. The situation is similar for the case of a ball rolling down an inclined plane. In order…

  16. Reconstruction of Abdominal Wall of a Chronically Infected Postoperative Wound with a Rectus Abdominis Myofascial Splitting Flap

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sung Kyu Bae

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundIf a chronically infected abdominal wound develops, complications such as peritonitis and an abdominal wall defect could occur. This could prolong the patient's hospital stay and increase the possibility of re-operation or another infection as well. For this reason, a solution for infection control is necessary. In this study, surgery using a rectus abdominis muscle myofascial splitting flap was performed on an abdominal wall defect.MethodsFrom 2009 to 2012, 5 patients who underwent surgery due to ovarian rupture, cesarean section, or uterine myoma were chosen. In each case, during the first week after operation, the wound showed signs of infection. Surgery was chosen because the wounds did not resolve with dressing. Debridement was performed along the previous operation wound and dissection of the skin was performed to separate the skin and subcutaneous tissue from the attenuated rectus muscle and Scarpa's fascial layers. Once the anterior rectus sheath and muscle were adequately mobilized, the fascia and muscle flap were advanced medially so that the skin defect could be covered for reconstruction.ResultsUpon 3-week follow-up after a rectus abdominis myofascial splitting flap operation, no major complication occurred. In addition, all of the patients showed satisfaction in terms of function and esthetics at 3 to 6 months post-surgery.ConclusionsUsing a rectus abdominis myofascial splitting flap has many esthetic and functional benefits over previous methods of abdominal defect treatment, and notably, it enabled infection control by reconstruction using muscle.

  17. Emergency caesarean delivery in a patient with cerebral malaria-leptospira co infection: Anaesthetic and critical care considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukhen Samanta

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Malaria-leptospira co-infection is rarely detected. Emergency surgery in such patients has not been reported. We describe such a case of a 24-year-old primigravida at term pregnancy posted for emergency caesarean delivery who developed pulmonary haemorrhage, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney injury, and cerebral oedema. Here, we discuss the perioperative management, pain management (with transverse abdominis plane block, intensive care management (special reference to management of pulmonary haemorrhage with intra pulmonary factor VIIa and the role of plasmapheresis in leptospira related jaundice with renal failure.

  18. Revision of loop colostomy under regional anaesthesia and sedation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Oriana; Thong, Sze Ying; Chia, Claramae Shulyn; Teo, Melissa Ching Ching

    2015-05-01

    Patients presenting for emergency abdominal procedures often have medical issues that cause both general anaesthesia and central neuraxial blockade to pose significant risks. Regional anaesthetic techniques are often used adjunctively for abdominal procedures under general anaesthesia, but there is limited published data on procedures done under peripheral nerve or plexus blocks. We herein report the case of a patient with recent pulmonary embolism and supraventricular tachycardia who required colostomy refashioning. Ultrasonography-guided regional anaesthesia was administered using a combination of ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric, rectus sheath and transversus abdominis plane blocks. This was supplemented with propofol and dexmedetomidine sedation as well as intermittent fentanyl and ketamine boluses to cover for visceral stimulation. We discuss the anatomical rationale for the choice of blocks and compare the anaesthetic conduct with similar cases that were previously reported.

  19. Do various baseline characteristics of transversus abdominis and lumbar multifidus predict clinical outcomes in nonspecific low back pain? A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Arnold Y L; Parent, Eric C; Funabashi, Martha; Stanton, Tasha R; Kawchuk, Gregory N

    2013-12-01

    Although individual reports suggest that baseline morphometry or activity of transversus abdominis or lumbar multifidus predict clinical outcome of low back pain (LBP), a related systematic review is unavailable. Therefore, this review summarized evidence regarding the predictive value of these muscular characteristics. Candidate publications were identified from 6 electronic medical databases. After review, 5 cohort studies were included. Although this review intended to encompass studies using different muscle assessment methods, all included studies coincidentally used ultrasound imaging. No research investigated the relation between static morphometry and clinical outcomes. Evidence synthesis showed limited evidence supporting poor baseline transversus abdominis contraction thickness ratio as a treatment effect modifier favoring motor control exercise. Limited evidence supported that high baseline transversus abdominis lateral slide was associated with higher pain intensity after various exercise interventions at 1-year follow-up. However, there was limited evidence for the absence of relation between the contraction thickness ratio of transversus abdominis or anticipatory onset of lateral abdominal muscles at baseline and the short- or long-term LBP intensity after exercise interventions. There was conflicting evidence for a relation between baseline percent thickness change of lumbar multifidus during contraction and the clinical outcomes of patients after various conservative treatments. Given study heterogeneity, the small number of included studies and the inability of conventional greyscale B-mode ultrasound imaging to measure muscle activity, our findings should be interpreted with caution. Further large-scale prospective studies that use appropriate technology (ie, electromyography to assess muscle activity) should be conducted to investigate the predictive value of morphometry or activity of these muscles with respect to LBP-related outcomes measures

  20. Epidemic Propagation of Control Plane Failures in GMPLS Controlled Optical Transport Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Fagertun, Anna Manolova

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of a dataplane-decoupled GMPLS control plane, when it is affected by failures that spread in the network in an epidemic manner. In particular, we consider network nodes to be either fully functional, or having a failed control plane, or having both...... a failed control and data plane. Through large-scale network simulation, we evaluate the effect of epidemically spreading control plane failures in terms of blocked connections requests and the amount of stranded capacity due to a dysfunctional control plane. Furthermore, we investigate the effect...... of the epidemic and the epidemic spreading intensity. In particular, networks with long epidemic durations do not necessarily result in worst performance in terms of blocked requests and capacity. Also epidemic scenarios, resulting in worst impact on the network availability does not necessarily result in worst...

  1. Efectos de la vibración sobre la actividad del rectus abdominis y sobre la transmisión de aceleraciones durante la realización de un puente frontal. (Effects of whole body vibration on rectus abdominis activity and transmission of accelerations during a front bridge exercise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco José Vera-García

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Resumen Durante las dos últimas décadas se ha incrementado notablemente la utilización de la vibración como medio complementario de ejercicio físico. La literatura científica muestra distintos efectos positivos, aunque la mayor parte de ensayos se han centrado en el análisis del ejercicio de squat. El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar la actividad muscular del rectus abdominis y la transmisión de la vibración en el cuerpo humano durante la realización de un puente frontal sobre una plataforma vibratoria oscilante vibrando a diferentes frecuencias (5, 16, 20 Hz y a una amplitud constante (3 mm. Las aceleraciones máximas en la cabeza (ejes X, Y, Z y la actividad electromiográfica media del rectus abdominis fueron determinadas en 31 sujetos sanos por medio de un acelerómetro triaxial y electromiografía de superficie. Para cada eje se calculó un coeficiente de amortiguación restando la aceleración máxima registrada en la cabeza a la aceleración máxima registrada sobre la plataforma. La actividad electromiográfica del rectus abdominis y los coeficientes de amortiguación en los ejes X y Z aumentaron significativamente con cada incremento en la frecuencia de vibración de la plataforma (p AbstractWhole-body vibration exercise have been widely used during the last two decades, with most scientific publications reporting various positive effects. Most commonly, squat exercises have been studied. Instead, this study explored the rectus abdominis activity and the transmission of sinusoidal vibration to the human body during the performance of front bridges on a oscillating vibration platform at different frequencies (5, 16, 20 Hz with constant amplitude (3 mm. Maximal vibration-induced accelerations at the head (axis X, Y, Z and mean electromyographic activity were assessed in thirty-one healthy subjects using a skin-mounted triaxial accelerometer and surface electromyography. A damping coefficient was calculated for each

  2. Thermal-stress analysis of HTGR fuel and control rod fuel blocks in in-block carbonization and annealing furnace

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gwaltney, R.C.; McAfee, W.J.

    1977-01-01

    A new method for performing thermal stress analyses in structures with multiple penetrations was applied to these analyses. This method couples the development of an equivalent thermal conductivity for the blocks, a technique that has been used extensively for modeling the thermal characteristics of reactor cores, with the use of the equivalent solid plate method for stress analysis. Using this equivalent thermal conductivity, which models as one material the heat transfer characteristics of the fuel, coolant, and graphite two-dimensional, steady-state thermal analyses of the fuel and control rod fuel blocks were performed to establish all temperature boundaries required for the stress analyses. In applying the equivalent solid plate method, the region of penetrations being modeled was replaced by a pseudo material having the same dimensions but whose materials properties were adjusted to account for the penetration. The peak stresses and strains were determined by applying stress and strain intensification factors to the calculated distributions. The condition studied was where the blocks were located near the center of the furnace. In this position, the axial surface of the block is heated near one end and cooled near the other. The approximate axial surface temperatures ranged from 1521 0 C at both the heated and the cooled ends to a peak of 1800 0 C near the center. Five specific cases were analyzed: plane (two-dimensional thermal, plane stress strain) analyses of each end of a standard fuel block (2 cases), plane analyses of each end of a control rod fuel block (2 cases), and a two-dimensional analysis of a fuel block treated as an axisymmetric cylind

  3. Determining the ice-binding planes of antifreeze proteins by fluorescence-based ice plane affinity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, Koli; Garnham, Christopher P; Nishimiya, Yoshiyuki; Tsuda, Sakae; Braslavsky, Ido; Davies, Peter

    2014-01-15

    Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are expressed in a variety of cold-hardy organisms to prevent or slow internal ice growth. AFPs bind to specific planes of ice through their ice-binding surfaces. Fluorescence-based ice plane affinity (FIPA) analysis is a modified technique used to determine the ice planes to which the AFPs bind. FIPA is based on the original ice-etching method for determining AFP-bound ice-planes. It produces clearer images in a shortened experimental time. In FIPA analysis, AFPs are fluorescently labeled with a chimeric tag or a covalent dye then slowly incorporated into a macroscopic single ice crystal, which has been preformed into a hemisphere and oriented to determine the a- and c-axes. The AFP-bound ice hemisphere is imaged under UV light to visualize AFP-bound planes using filters to block out nonspecific light. Fluorescent labeling of the AFPs allows real-time monitoring of AFP adsorption into ice. The labels have been found not to influence the planes to which AFPs bind. FIPA analysis also introduces the option to bind more than one differently tagged AFP on the same single ice crystal to help differentiate their binding planes. These applications of FIPA are helping to advance our understanding of how AFPs bind to ice to halt its growth and why many AFP-producing organisms express multiple AFP isoforms.

  4. GEOMECHANICAL OBSERVATIONS DURING THE LARGE BLOCK TEST

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    STEPHEN C. BLAIR AND STEPHANIE A. WOOD

    1998-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of the geomechanical studies conducted at the Large Block Test at Fran Ridge, near Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The 3-dimensional geomechanical response of the rock to heating is being monitored using instrumentation mounted in boreholes and on the surface of the block. Results show that thermal expansion of the block began a few hours after the start of heating, and is closely correlated with the thermal history. Horizontal expansion increases as a linear function of height. Comparison of observed deformations with continuum simulations shows that below the heater plane deformation is smaller than predicted, while above the heater plane, observed deformation is larger than predicted, and is consistent with opening of vertical fractures. Fracture monitors indicate that movement on a large horizontal fracture is associated with hydrothermal behavior

  5. PPARβ expression in rectus abdominis and abdominal subcutaneous fat of patients with gestational diabetes mellitus and its relationship with glucolipid metabolism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiao-Yan Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To study the relationship between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β (PPARβ expression in rectus abdominis as well as abdominal subcutaneous fat of patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM and glucolipid metabolism. Methods: The pregnant women who received routine antenatal care and planned to receive selective caesarean section in Obstetrics Department of our hospital between May 2012 and March 2016 were retrospectively analyzed, and 74 healthy pregnant women and 58 pregnant women with GDM were screened and included in the control group and gestational diabetes mellitus group (GDM group respectively. Rectus abdominis and abdominal subcutaneous fat were collected during Cesarean section to determine the expression of PPARβ was measured; peripheral blood was collected at middle-late pregnancy to determine the content of blood glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism indexes as well as adipocytokines. Results: PARβ mRNA expression and protein expression in rectus abdominis and abdominal subcutaneous fat of GDM group were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05; homeostasis model assessment insulin secretion index (HOMA-β, homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR and OGTT glucose curve (AUCG levels as well as serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, triglyceride (TG, cholesterol (TC, Leptin, Resistin and Chemerin content of GDM group were significantly higher than those of control group (P<0.05 while early insulin secretion index (ΔI30/ΔG30 and insulin sensitive index composite (ISIcomp levels as well as serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, Omentin-1 and Omentin-1 and adiponectin (ADPN content were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05; PARβ mRNA expression and protein expression were negatively correlated with HOMA-β, HOMA IR, area under the AUCG, LDL-C, TG, TC, Leptin, Resistin and Chemerin, and positively correlated with ΔI30/

  6. Erector spinae plane block may aid weaning from mechanical ventilation in patients with multiple rib fractures: Case report of two cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amar Nandhakumar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Uncontrolled pain in patients with rib fracture leads to atelectasis and impaired cough which can progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure necessitating mechanical ventilation. Of the various pain modalities, regional anaesthesia (epidural and paravertebral is better than systemic and oral analgesics. The erector spinae plane block (ESPB is a new modality in the armamentarium for the management of pain in multiple rib fractures, which is simple to perform and without major complications. We report a case series where ESPB helped in weaning the patients from mechanical ventilation. Further randomised controlled studies are warranted in comparing their efficacy in relation to other regional anaesthetic techniques.

  7. Ultrasound-guided continuous phrenic nerve block for persistent hiccups.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Renes, S.H.; Geffen, G.J. van; Rettig, H.C.; Gielen, M.J.M.; Scheffer, G.J.

    2010-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Phrenic nerve block can be performed and repeated if necessary for persistent hiccups, when conservative and pharmacological treatment is unsuccessful. We report the first description of an in-plane ultrasound (US)-guided phrenic nerve block (PhNB) with a catheter, after US investigation

  8. Blocking Reduction of Span Restoration Requests in GMPLS Controlled WDM Optical Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buron, Jakob Due; Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Andriolli, N.

    2006-01-01

    The proposed label preference scheme reduces blocking of span restoration requests in GMPLS optical networks with limited wavelength conversion. By minimizing resource contention and conversion usage, it increases recovery percentage and reduces control plane load.......The proposed label preference scheme reduces blocking of span restoration requests in GMPLS optical networks with limited wavelength conversion. By minimizing resource contention and conversion usage, it increases recovery percentage and reduces control plane load....

  9. The influence of simulated transversus abdominis muscle force on sacroiliac joint flexibility during asymmetric moment application to the pelvis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gnat, Rafael; Spoor, Kees; Pool-Goudzwaard, Annelies

    2015-10-01

    The role of so-called local muscle system in motor control of the lower back and pelvis is a subject of ongoing debate. Prevailing beliefs in stabilizing function of this system were recently challenged. This study investigated the impact of in vitro simulated force of transversely oriented fibres of the transversus abdominis muscle (a part of the local system) on flexibility of the sacroiliac joint during asymmetric moment application to the pelvis. In 8 embalmed specimens an incremental moment was applied in the sagittal plane to one innominate with respect to the fixed contralateral innominate. Ranges of motion of the sacroiliac joint were recorded using the Vicon Motion Capture System. Load-deformation curves were plotted and flexibility of the sacroiliac joint was calculated separately for anterior and posterior rotations of the innominate, with and without simulated muscle force. Flexibility of the sacroiliac joint was significantly bigger during anterior rotation of the innominate, as compared to posterior rotation (Anova Psacroiliac joint was demonstrated. Earlier hypotheses suggesting a stiffening influence of this muscle on the pelvis cannot be confirmed. Consistent with previous findings smaller flexibility of the joint recorded during posterior rotation of the innominate may be of clinical importance for physio- and manual therapists. However, major limitations of the study should be acknowledged: in vitro conditions and simulation of only solitary muscle force. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Ultrasound-Guided Multiple Peripheral Nerve Blocks in a Superobese Patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alper Kilicaslan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The number of obese patients has increased dramatically worldwide. Morbid obesity is associated with an increased incidence of medical comorbidities and restricts the application choices in anesthesiology. We report a successfully performed combined ultrasound-guided blockade of the femoral, tibial, and common peroneal nerve in a superobese patient. We present a case report of a 31-year-old, ASA-PS II, super obese man (190 kg, 180 cm, BMI: 58 kg/m2 admitted to the emergency department with a type II segmental tibia shaft fracture and ankle dislocation after a vehicle accident. After two failed spinal anesthesia attempts, we decided to apply a femoral block combined with a sciatic block. Femoral blocks were successfully performed with US guided in-plane technique. Separate blocks of the tibial and common peroneal nerves were planned after the sciatic nerve could not be located due to the thick subcutaneous tissue. We performed a tibial nerve block at 2 cm above the popliteal crease and common peroneal nerve at the level of the fibular head with US guided in-plane technique. The blocks were successful and no block-related complications were noted. Ultrasound guidance allows new approaches for multiple peripheral nerve blocks with low local anesthetic doses in obese patients.

  11. Performance of an Achromatic Focal Plane Mask for Exoplanet Imaging Coronagraphy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Kevin; Belikov, Ruslan; Pluzhnik, Eugene; Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham; Wilson, Dan

    2014-01-01

    Coronagraph technology combined with wavefront control is close to achieving the contrast and inner working angle requirements in the lab necessary to observe the faint signal of an Earth-like exoplanet in monochromatic light. An important remaining technological challenge is to achieve high contrast in broadband light. Coronagraph bandwidth is largely limited by chromaticity of the focal plane mask, which is responsible for blocking the stellar PSF. The size of a stellar PSF scales linearly with wavelength; ideally, the size of the focal plane mask would also scale with wavelength. A conventional hard-edge focal plane mask has a fixed size, normally sized for the longest wavelength in the observational band to avoid starlight leakage. The conventional mask is oversized for shorter wavelengths and blocks useful discovery space. Recently we presented a solution to the size chromaticity challenge with a focal plane mask designed to scale its effective size with wavelength. In this paper, we analyze performance of the achromatic size-scaling focal plane mask within a Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph. We present results from wavefront control around the achromatic focal plane mask, and demonstrate the size-scaling effect of the mask with wavelength. The edge of the dark zone, and therefore the inner working angle of the coronagraph, scale with wavelength. The achromatic mask enables operation in a wider band of wavelengths compared with a conventional hard-edge occulter.

  12. Ultrasound-guided block of the axillary nerve

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rothe, C; Lund, J; Jenstrup, M T

    2012-01-01

    The specific blocking of the axillary nerve has never been investigated clinically. We present four cases illustrating potential applications of the axillary nerve block in the perioperative setting and discuss possible directions for future research in this area. The axillary nerve blocks were all...... performed using a newly developed in-plane ultrasound-guided technique. In one patient undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery, we used the axillary nerve block as the only analgesic combined with propofol sedation and spontaneous breathing. Chronic shoulder pain was eliminated after the axillary nerve...... block in two patients. The pain score after arthroscopic shoulder surgery in these two patients remained low until termination of the nerve block. In a fourth patient, severe post-operative pain after osteosynthesis of a displaced proximal humerus fracture was almost eliminated after performing...

  13. Feedforward responses of transversus abdominis are directionally specific and act asymmetrically: implications for core stability theories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allison, Garry T; Morris, Sue L; Lay, Brendan

    2008-05-01

    Experimental laboratory study supplemented with a repeated case study. To examine bilateral muscle activity of the deep abdominals in response to rapid arm raising, specifically to examine the laterality and directional specificity of feedforward responses of the transversus abdominis (TrA). Based on the feedforward responses of trunk muscles during rapid arm movements, authors have concluded that the deep trunk muscles have different control mechanisms compared to the more superficial muscles. It has been proposed that deep trunk muscles such as TrA contribute substantially to the stability of the lumbar spine and that this is achieved through simultaneous bilateral feedforward activation. These inferences are based on unilateral fine-wire electromyographic (EMG) data and there are limited investigations of bilateral responses of the TrA during unilateral arm raising. Bilateral fine-wire and surface EMG data from the anterior deltoid, TrA, obliquus internus (OI), obliquus externus, biceps femoris, erector spinae, and rectus abdominis during repeated arm raises were recorded at 2 kHz. EMG signal linear envelopes were synchronized to the onset of the anterior deltoid. A feedforward window was defined as the period up to 50 ms after the onset of the anterior deltoid, and paired onsets for bilateral muscles were plotted for both left and right arm movements. Trunk muscles from the group data demonstrated differences between sides (laterality), which were systematically altered when alternate arms were raised (directional specificity). This was clearly evident for the TrA but less obvious for the erector spinae. The ipsilateral biceps femoris and obliquus externus, and contralateral OI and TrA, were activated earlier than the alternate side for both right and left arm movements. This was a consistent pattern over a 7-year period for the case study. Data for the rectus abdominis derived from the case study demonstrated little laterality or directionally specific

  14. Reflection and refraction of light from a moving block of glass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lerche, I.

    1975-01-01

    For a block of glass moving with speed βc we present calculations which give the changes in the laws of reflection and refraction of light from the laws which hold when β = 0. In particular we show (i) that changes in the critical internal reflection condition, although formally of order β 2 , are obtainable by measuring the refraction angle to O(β); (ii) the reflection coefficient depends not only on the polarization plane of the incident light but also on whether the plane of incidence does, or does not, include the direction of motion of the glass block. For instance, for light incident in a plane perpendicular to the direction of motion there is no Brewster angle for either plane of polarization, while for light incident in a plane containing the direction of motion at least one (and sometimes both) plane of polarization possess a Brewster angle. We have done these calculations in order to demonstrate that the shearing of one medium relative to another can have profound effects on the reflection and refraction of light. A major point here is that even when it might appear a priori that O(β 2 ) phenomena are unobservable in the laboratory, the present calculations show that this is not always so

  15. Morphology evolution of PS-b-PDMS block copolymer and its hierarchical directed self-assembly on block copolymer templates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasappa, Sozaraj; Schulte, Lars; Borah, Dipu

    2018-01-01

    Cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-b-PDMS, 27.2k-b-11.7k, SD39) block copolymer having a total molecular weight of 39 kg mol−1 was exploited to achieve in-plane morphologies of lines, dots and antidots. Brush-free self-assembly of the SD39 on silicon substrates was invest...... substrates provides a simplified method for surface nanopatterning, templated growth of nanomaterials and nanofabrication....... the pattern into the underlying substrate. Directed self-assembly and hierarchical directed self-assembly on block copolymer templates for confinement of dots was successfully demonstrated. The strategy for achieving multiple morphologies using one BCP by mere choice of the annealing solvents on unmodified...

  16. Free tissue transfer of the rectus abdominis myoperitoneal flap for oral reconstruction in a dog.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanz, O I

    2001-12-01

    A five-month-old intact/male Boxer dog was presented 5-days following bite wound trauma to the maxillary region resulting in an oronasal fistula extending from the maxillary canine teeth to the soft palate. Multiple surgical procedures using local, buccal mucosal flaps failed to repair the oronasal fistula. Free tissue transfer of the rectus abdominis myoperitoneal flap using microvascular surgical techniques was successful in providing soft tissue reconstruction of the hard palate area. Complications of these surgical techniques included muscle contraction and subsequent muzzle distortion. Small, refractory oronasal fistulae at the perimeter of the myoperitoneal flap were repaired by primary wound closure.

  17. Liposomal bupivacaine peripheral nerve block for the management of postoperative pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Thomas W; Athanassoglou, Vassilis; Trivella, Marialena; Strickland, Louise H; Mellon, Stephen; Murray, David; Pandit, Hemant G

    2016-08-25

    evidence using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation). We identified seven studies that met inclusion criteria for this review. Three were recorded as completed (or terminated) but no results were published. Of the remaining four studies (299 participants): two investigated liposomal bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block, one liposomal bupivacaine dorsal penile nerve block, and one ankle block. The study investigating liposomal bupivacaine ankle block was a Phase II dose-escalating/de-escalating trial presenting pooled data that we could not use in our analysis.The studies did not report our primary outcome, cumulative pain score between 0 and 72 hours, and secondary outcomes, mean pain score at 12, 24, 48, 72, or 96 hours. One study reported no difference in mean pain score during the first, second, and third postoperative 24-hour periods in participants receiving liposomal bupivacaine TAP block compared to no TAP block. Two studies, both in people undergoing laparoscopic surgery under TAP block, investigated cumulative postoperative opioid dose, reported opposing findings. One found a lower cumulative opioid consumption between 0 and 72 hours compared to bupivacaine hydrochloride TAP block and one found no difference during the first, second, and third postoperative 24-hour periods compared to no TAP block. No studies reported time to first postoperative opioid or percentage not requiring opioids over the initial 72 hours. No studies reported a health economic analysis or patient-reported outcome measures (outside of pain). The review authors sought data regarding adverse events but none were available, however there were no withdrawals reported to be due to adverse events.Using GRADE, we considered the quality of evidence to be very low with any estimate of effect very uncertain and further research very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect. All studies were at high risk of bias

  18. ELECTRICAL IMAGING AT THE LARGE BLOCK TEST YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramirez, A.

    2000-01-01

    A monolithic block of densely welded tuff was excavated from a site on Fran Ridge near Yucca Mountain, Nevada so that coupled thermohydrological processes could be studied in a controlled, in situ experiment. A series of heaters were placed in a horizontal plane about 3 m from the top of the 3 m by 3 m by 4.5 m high block. Temperatures were measured at many points within and on the block surface and a suite of other measurements were taken to define the thermal and hydrologic response. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) was used to map 2 dimensional images of moisture content changes along four planes in the block. The ERT images clearly delineate the drying and wetting of the rockmass during the 13 months of heating and subsequent six months of cool down. The main feature is a prominent dry zone that forms around the heaters then gradually disappears as the rock cools down. Other features include linear anomalies of decreasing moisture content which are fractures dehydrating as the block heats up. There are also examples of compact anomalies of wetting. Some of these appear to be water accumulation in fractures which are draining condensate from the block. Others may be rain water entering a fracture at the top of the block. During cooldown a general rewetting is observed although this is less certain because of poor data quality during this stage of the experiment

  19. Reconstruction of Abdominal Wall of a Chronically Infected Postoperative Wound with a Rectus Abdominis Myofascial Splitting Flap

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sung Kyu Bae

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background If a chronically infected abdominal wound develops, complications such asperitonitis and an abdominal wall defect could occur. This could prolong the patient’s hospitalstay and increase the possibility of re-operation or another infection as well. For this reason,a solution for infection control is necessary. In this study, surgery using a rectus abdominismuscle myofascial splitting flap was performed on an abdominal wall defect.Methods From 2009 to 2012, 5 patients who underwent surgery due to ovarian rupture,cesarean section, or uterine myoma were chosen. In each case, during the first week afteroperation, the wound showed signs of infection. Surgery was chosen because the wounds didnot resolve with dressing. Debridement was performed along the previous operation woundand dissection of the skin was performed to separate the skin and subcutaneous tissue fromthe attenuated rectus muscle and Scarpa’s fascial layers. Once the anterior rectus sheath andmuscle were adequately mobilized, the fascia and muscle flap were advanced medially sothat the skin defect could be covered for reconstruction.Results Upon 3-week follow-up after a rectus abdominis myofascial splitting flap operation,no major complication occurred. In addition, all of the patients showed satisfaction in termsof function and esthetics at 3 to 6 months post-surgery.Conclusions Using a rectus abdominis myofascial splitting flap has many esthetic andfunctional benefits over previous methods of abdominal defect treatment, and notably, itenabled infection control by reconstruction using muscle.

  20. Comparative effects of 12 weeks of equipment based and mat Pilates in patients with Chronic Low Back Pain on pain, function and transversus abdominis activation. A randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruz-Díaz, David; Bergamin, M; Gobbo, S; Martínez-Amat, Antonio; Hita-Contreras, Fidel

    2017-08-01

    Pilates method has been recommended for patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and the activation of transversus abdominis has been deemed to play an important role in the improvement of these patients. Nevertheless, the evidence of the activation of TrA in Pilates practitioners remains unclear. To assess the effectiveness of 12 weeks of Pilates practice in disability, pain, kinesiophobia and transversus abdominis activation in patients with chronic nonspecific Low Back Pain. A randomized controlled trial was carried out. A single-blind randomized controlled trial with repeated measures at 6 and 12 weeks was carried out. A total of ninety eight patients with low back pain were included and randomly allocated to a Pilates Mat group (PMG) equipment based with apparatus Pilates (PAG) or control group (CG). Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), visual analog scale (VAS) Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and transversus abdominis (TrA) activation assessed by real time ultrasound measurement (US) were assessed as outcome measures. Improvement were observed in both intervention groups in all the included variables at 6 and 12 weeks (ppain, function and kinesiophobia. Significant differences were observed after 12 weeks of intervention in PMG and PAG with faster improvement in PAG suggesting that, feedback provided by equipment could help in the interiorization of Pilates principles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Ultrasound description of Pecs II (modified Pecs I): a novel approach to breast surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco, R; Fajardo, M; Parras Maldonado, T

    2012-11-01

    The Pecs block (pectoral nerves block) is an easy and reliable superficial block inspired by the infraclavicular block approach and the transversus abdominis plane blocks. Once the pectoralis muscles are located under the clavicle the space between the two muscles is dissected to reach the lateral pectoral and the medial pectoral nerves. The main indications are breast expanders and subpectoral prosthesis where the distension of these muscles is extremely painful. A second version of the Pecs block is described, called "modified Pecs block" or Pecs block type II. This novel approach aims to block at least the pectoral nerves, the intercostobrachial, intercostals III-IV-V-VI and the long thoracic nerve. These nerves need to be blocked to provide complete analgesia during breast surgery, and it is an alternative or a rescue block if paravertebral blocks and thoracic epidurals failed. This block has been used in our unit in the past year for the Pecs I indications described, and in addition for, tumorectomies, wide excisions, and axillary clearances. The ultrasound sequence to perform this block is shown, together with simple X-ray dye images and gadolinium MRI images to understand the spread and pathways that can explain the benefit of this novel approach. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  2. Symptomatic endometriosis of rectus abdominis muscle in a patient with uterus didelphys

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yavuz Emre Şükür

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Endometriosis of the rectus abdominis muscle is a very rare event and it should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of women with abdominal wall mass. Case: 42 year-old G2 P2 patient with uterus didelphis was referred with a painful abdominal wall mass of approximately 4x5 cm size. The mass that has contrast matter enhancement on CT was excised with median laparotomy below the umbilicus. The mass which was thought as endometriosis was excised without remaining any pieces to prevent recurrence and primarily repaired. Discussion: Along with the increasing incidence due to increased cessarean rates the endometrial wall endometriosis is an important diagnosis that should not be omitted. The treatment is surgical resection and to we should take care not to leave any pieces to prevent recurrence especially when it is located atypically.

  3. Design of energy efficient optical networks with software enabled integrated control plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Jiayuan; Yan, Ying; Dittmann, Lars

    2015-01-01

    energy consumption by proposing a new integrated control plane structure utilising Software Defined Networking technologies. The integrated control plane increases the efficiencies of exchanging control information across different network domains, while introducing new possibilities to the routing...... methods and the control over quality of service (QoS). The structure is defined as an overlay generalised multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS) control model. With the defined structure, the integrated control plane is able to gather information from different domains (i.e. optical core network......'s) routing behaviours. With the flexibility of the routing structure, results show that the energy efficiency of the network can be improved without compromising the QoS for delay/blocking sensitive services....

  4. Gravitational Couplings for Gop-Planes and y-Op-Planes

    OpenAIRE

    Giraldo, Juan Fernando Ospina

    2000-01-01

    The Wess-Zumino actions for generalized orientifold planes (GOp-planes) and y-deformed orientifold planes (yOp-planes) are presented and two series power expantions are realized from whiches processes that involves GOp-planes,yOp-planes, RR-forms, gravitons and gaugeons, are obtained. Finally non-standard GOp-planes and y-Op-planes are showed.

  5. Interventions for postoperative pain in children: An overview of systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boric, Krste; Dosenovic, Svjetlana; Jelicic Kadic, Antonia; Batinic, Marijan; Cavar, Marija; Urlic, Marjan; Markovina, Nikolina; Puljak, Livia

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this study was to conduct an overview of systematic reviews that summarizes the results about efficacy and safety from randomized controlled trials involving the various strategies used for postoperative pain management in children. We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, Database of Reviews of Effect, Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO from the earliest date to January 24, 2016. This overview included 45 systematic reviews that evaluated interventions for postoperative pain in children. Out of 45 systematic reviews that investigated various interventions for postoperative pain in children, 19 systematic reviews (42%) presented conclusive evidence of efficacy. Positive conclusive evidence was reported in 18 systematic reviews (40%) for the efficacy of diclofenac, ketamine, caudal analgesia, dexmedetomidine, music therapy, corticosteroid, epidural analgesia, paracetamol, and/or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and transversus abdominis plane block. Only one systematic review reported conclusive evidence of equal efficacy that involved a comparison of dexmedetomidine vs morphine and fentanyl. Safety of interventions was reported as conclusive in 14 systematic reviews (31%), with positive conclusive evidence for dexmedetomidine, corticosteroid, epidural analgesia, transversus abdominis plane block, and clonidine. Seven systematic reviews reported equal conclusive safety for epidural infusion, diclofenac intravenous vs ketamine added to opioid analgesia, bupivacaine, ketamine, paracetamol, and dexmedetomidine vs intravenous infusions of various opioid analgesics, oral suspension and suppository of diclofenac, only opioid, normal saline, no treatment, placebo, and midazolam. Negative conclusive statement for safety was reported in one systematic review for caudal analgesia vs noncaudal regional analgesia. More than half of systematic reviews included in this overview were rated as having medium methodological quality. Of 45 included

  6. 3D synthetic aperture imaging using a virtual source element in the elevation plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nikolov, Svetoslav; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2000-01-01

    . However, the resolution in the elevation plane is determined by the fixed mechanical elevation focus. This paper suggests to post-focus the RF lines from several adjacent planes in the elevation direction using the elevation focal point of the transducer as a virtual source element, in order to obtain...... dynamic focusing in the elevation plane. A 0.1 mm point scatterer was mounted in an agar block and scanned in a water bath. The transducer is a 64 elements linear array with a pitch of 209 μm. The transducer height is 4 mm in the elevation plane and it is focused at 20 mm giving a F-number of 5. The point...... are passed through a second beamformer, in which the fixed focal points in the elevation plane are treated as virtual sources of spherical waves. Synthetic aperture focusing is applied on them. The -6 dB resolution in the elevation plane is increased from 7 mm to 2 mm. This gives a uniform point spread...

  7. Numerical modeling of block structure dynamics: Application to the Vrancea region and study of earthquakes sequences in the synthetic catalogs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soloviev, A.A.; Vorobieva, I.A.

    1995-08-01

    A seismically active region is represented as a system of absolutely rigid blocks divided by infinitely thin plane faults. The interaction of the blocks along the fault planes and with the underlying medium is viscous-elastic. The system of blocks moves as a consequence of prescribed motion of boundary blocks and the underlying medium. When for some part of a fault plane the stress surpasses a certain strength level a stress-drop (''a failure'') occurs. It can cause a failure for other parts of fault planes. The failures are considered as earthquakes. As a result of the numerical simulation a synthetic earthquake catalogue is produced. This procedure is applied for numerical modeling of dynamics of the block structure approximating the tectonic structure of the Vrancea region. By numerical experiments the values of the model parameters were obtained which supplied the synthetic earthquake catalog with the space distribution of epicenters close to the real distribution of the earthquake epicenters in the Vrancea region. The frequency-magnitude relations (Gutenberg-Richter curves) obtained for the synthetic and real catalogs have some common features. The sequences of earthquakes arising in the model are studied for some artificial structures. It is found that ''foreshocks'', ''main shocks'', and ''aftershocks'' could be detected among earthquakes forming the sequences. The features of aftershocks, foreshocks, and catalogs of main shocks are analysed. (author). 5 refs, 12 figs, 16 tabs

  8. Analgesic efficacy of the ultrasound-guided blockade of the transversus abdominis plane - a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Ripollés

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The transverse abdominal plan blockade is a block of abdominal wall that has diffused rapidly in the clinical practice as part of a multimodal analgesia for abdominal surgery. The performance of the ultrasound-guided technique has allowed the lowering of potential complications, as well as new approaches that were carried out according to the descriptions, and the prospective studies would make it possible to utilize the transverse abdominal plan blockade in different surgical interventions; however, the results obtained in randomized clinical trials are inconsistent.OBJECTIVES: To prepare a systematic review aiming to determine the efficacy of the ultrasound-guided transverse abdominal plan blockade for different surgical interventions, as well as the indications according to the approaches and their influences.METHODS: Two research approaches, one manual, and the other in Pubmed returned 28 randomized clinical trials where intervention with ultrasound-guided transverse abdominal plan blockades was performed to compare the analgesic efficacy in contrast to another technique in adults, published between 2007 and October 2013, in English or Spanish, with Jadad score > 1, according to the inclusion criteria for this review. The authors analyzed independently all the randomized clinical trials.CONCLUSIONS: The transverse abdominal plan blockades have been shown to be an effective technique in colorectal surgery, cesarean section, cholecystectomy, hysterectomy, appendectomy, donor nephrectomy, retropubic prostatectomy, and bariatric surgery. However, the data found in randomized clinical trial are not conclusive, and as a result, it is necessary to develop new and well designed randomized clinical trial, with enough statistical power to compare different approaches, drugs, doses, and volumes for the same intervention, aiming to answer the current questions and their effects in the habitual clinical practice.

  9. Predictors of favorable soft tissue profile outcomes following Class II Twin-block treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ji-Eun; Mah, Su-Jung; Kim, Tae-Woo; Kim, Su-Jung; Park, Ki-Ho; Kang, Yoon-Goo

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine cephalometric factors that help predict favorable soft-tissue profile outcomes following treatment with the Class II Twin-block appliance. Pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms of 45 patients treated with the Class II Twin-block appliance were retrospectively analyzed. Profile silhouettes were drawn from the cephalograms and evaluated by three orthodontists in order to determine the extent of improvement. Samples were divided into a favorable group (upper 30% of visual analogue scale [VAS] scores, n = 14) and an unfavorable group (lower 30% of VAS scores, n = 14). Skeletal and soft-tissue measurements were performed on the cephalograms and an intergroup comparison was conducted. An independent t -test revealed that the following pre-treatment values were lower in the favorable group compared to the unfavorable group: lower incisor to mandibular plane angle, lower incisor to pogonion distance, point A-nasion-point B angle, sella-nasion line (SN) to maxillary plane angle, SN to mandibular plane angle, gonial angle, and symphysis inclination. The favorable group had a larger incisor inclination to occlusal plane. Moreover, the favorable group showed larger post-treatment changes in gonial angle, B point projection, and pogonion projection than did the unfavorable group. Class II malocclusion patients with a low divergent skeletal pattern and reduced lower incisor protrusions are likely to show more improvement in soft-tissue profile outcomes following Class II Twin-block treatment.

  10. Sudden shrinkage of free rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap 15 years after maxilla reconstruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasushi Mochizuki

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available A 60-year-old male displayed sudden shrinkage of a left free rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap, which had been grafted to his left maxilla 15 years previously. No post-reconstructive irradiation had been performed, and no late occlusion of the vascular anastomosis, local infection, recurrence of the maxillary cancer, or body weight loss was observed. However, the shrinkage amounted to approximately 50%. This is considerably more than previously reported cases of shrinkage of various free flaps, which ranged between 10% and 25%. The resultant depression was successfully augmented with a right free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap. The residual fat volume of the previously grafted shrunken flap was revealed to be compatible with that of the newly harvested contralateral perforator flap. Thus, the volume of the previously grafted flap may reflect the status of the intact contralateral donor site, although the mechanism of sudden flap shrinkage is unclear.

  11. Progress report on pre-test calculations for the large block test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, K.H.

    1995-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP) is investigating the suitability of the Topopah Spring tuff in the thick vadose zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a host rock for permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As part of the YMP, a group of field tests, referred to as the Large Block Test (LBT), will be conducted on a large electrically heated block of Topopah Spring tuff, isolated at Fran Ridge, Nevada Test Site. The block, which will be 3 x 3 m in horizontal dimensions and 4.5 m in height, will be heated by electrical heaters. The goals of the LBT axe to gain information on the coupled thermal-mechanical-hydrological-chemical processes active in the near-field environment of a repository; to provide field data for testing and calibrating models; and to help the development of measurement systems and techniques. This progress report presents results of on-going numerical modeling calculations carried out in support of the LBT design. An equivalent continuum model with an upper boundary temperature of 60 degrees C was used to simulate the hydrothermal response of the block to heating over a one-year period. The total heating power was started at 1500 W and later reduced to maintain an approximately uniform temperature of 138-140 degrees C. For a homogeneous bulk permeability case, the results show the formation of a distinct dry-out zone in and around the heater plane, and well-developed condensation zones above and below the heater plane. For a heterogeneous permeability distribution, the condensation zone above the heater plane was not well developed. This difference in results suggests that water saturation changes might be sensitive to changes in bulk permeability distribution. Rock temperatures were almost unaffected by permeability distribution. Heat flow was dominated by conduction. No liquid flow through the top of the block was predicted

  12. Moment of inertia for rock blocks subject to bookshelf faulting with ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    51

    Knowing (empirical) algebraic relations of density with depth, which could also be ... In case of book-shelf sliding, fault blocks rotate and slip by simple shear along pre-existing planes (Fig. ... to seismicity studies (e.g., Wetzel et al. 1993), and ...

  13. Analyses and testing of model prestressed concrete reactor vessels with built-in planes of weakness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dawson, P.; Paton, A.A.; Fleischer, C.C.

    1990-01-01

    This paper describes the design, construction, analyses and testing of two small scale, single cavity prestressed concrete reactor vessel models, one without planes of weakness and one with planes of weakness immediately behind the cavity liner. This work was carried out to extend a previous study which had suggested the likely feasibility of constructing regions of prestressed concrete reactor vessels and biological shields, which become activated, using easily removable blocks, separated by a suitable membrane. The paper describes the results obtained and concludes that the planes of weakness concept could offer a means of facilitating the dismantling of activated regions of prestressed concrete reactor vessels, biological shields and similar types of structure. (author)

  14. Diastasis recti abdominis during pregnancy and 12 months after childbirth: prevalence, risk factors and report of lumbopelvic pain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tennfjord, Merete Kolberg; Hilde, Gunvor; Ellström-Engh, Marie; Bø, Kari

    2016-01-01

    Background/aim Diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) is defined as a separation of the 2 muscle bellies of rectus abdominis. To date there is scant knowledge on prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of the condition. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of DRA during pregnancy and post partum, presence of possible risk factors, and the occurrence of lumbopelvic pain among women with and without DRA. Methods This prospective cohort study followed 300 first-time pregnant women from pregnancy till 12 months post partum. Data were collected by electronic questionnaire and clinical examinations. DRA was defined as a palpated separation of ≥2 fingerbreadths either 4.5 cm above, at or 4.5 cm below the umbilicus. Women with and without DRA were compared with independent samples Student's t-test and χ2/Fisher exact test, and OR with significance level >0.05. Results Prevalence of DRA was 33.1%, 60.0%, 45.4%, and 32.6% at gestation week 21, 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months post partum, respectively. No difference in risk factors was found when comparing women with and without DRA. OR showed a greater likelihood for DRA among women reporting heavy lifting ≥20 times weekly (OR 2.18 95% CI 1.05 to 4.52). There was no difference in reported lumbopelvic pain (p=0.10) in women with and without DRA. Conclusions Prevalence of mild DRA was high both during pregnancy and after childbirth. Women with and without DRA reported the same amount of lumbopelvic pain 12 months post partum. PMID:27324871

  15. Colliding almost-plane gravitational waves: Colliding plane waves and general properties of almost-plane-wave spacetimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yurtsever, U.

    1988-01-01

    It is well known that when two precisely plane-symmetric gravitational waves propagating in an otherwise flat background collide, they focus each other so strongly as to produce a curvature singularity. This paper is the first of several devoted to almost-plane gravitational waves and their collisions. Such waves are more realistic than plane waves in having a finite but very large transverse size. In this paper we review some crucial features of the well-known exact solutions for colliding plane waves and we argue that one of these features, the breakdown of ''local inextendibility'' can be regarded as nongeneric. We then introduce a new framework for analyzing general colliding plane-wave spacetimes; we give an alternative proof of a theorem due to Tipler implying the existence of singularities in all generic colliding plane-wave solutions; and we discuss the fact that the recently constructed Chandrasekhar-Xanthopoulos colliding plane-wave solutions are not strictly plane symmetric and thus do not satisfy the conditions and the conclusion of Tipler's theorem

  16. Ilioinguinal Nerve Block in Obese Patients: Description of New Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Mathers

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Ilioinguinal nerve blockade is an effective technique for both perioperative and chronic pain conditions in adult and pediatric practice. Ultrasound guidance can increase the success rate and reduce the complications associated with performing ilioinguinal nerve blockade. Obese patients present a particular challenge with ilioinguinal block as the overlying abdominal pannus impedes the ultrasound view by increasing the depth to target and necessitating an out-of-plane approach. We demonstrate that modification of the technique by placing the patient into the lateral decubitus position reduces the depth to target and allows an in-plane approach to be utilized.

  17. In-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivities of molybdenum disulfide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding, Zhiwei; Pei, Qing-Xiang; Zhang, Yong-Wei; Jiang, Jin-Wu

    2015-01-01

    We investigate the in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivities of molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the in-plane thermal conductivity of monolayer MoS 2 is about 19.76 W mK −1 . Interestingly, the in-plane thermal conductivity of multilayer MoS 2 is insensitive to the number of layers, which is in strong contrast to the in-plane thermal conductivity of graphene where the interlayer interaction strongly affects the in-plane thermal conductivity. This layer number insensitivity is attributable to the finite energy gap in the phonon spectrum of MoS 2 , which makes the phonon–phonon scattering channel almost unchanged with increasing layer number. For the cross-plane thermal transport, we find that the cross-plane thermal conductivity of multilayer MoS 2 can be effectively tuned by applying cross-plane strain. More specifically, a 10% cross-plane compressive strain can enhance the thermal conductivity by a factor of 10, while a 5% cross-plane tensile strain can reduce the thermal conductivity by 90%. Our findings are important for thermal management in MoS 2 based nanodevices and for thermoelectric applications of MoS 2 . (paper)

  18. Rehabilitation and Return to Sport Following Surgical Repair of the Rectus Abdominis and Adductor Longus in a Professional Basketball Player: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Short, Steven M; Anloague, Philip A; Strack, Donald S

    2016-08-01

    Study Design Case report. Background Acute traumatic avulsion of the rectus abdominis and adductor longus is rare. Chronic groin injuries, often falling under the athletic pubalgia spectrum, have been reported to be more common. There is limited evidence detailing the comprehensive rehabilitation and return to sport of an athlete following surgical or conservative treatment of avulsion injuries of the pubis or other sports-related groin pathologies. Case Description A 29-year-old National Basketball Association player sustained a contact injury during a professional basketball game. This case report describes a unique clinical situation specific to professional sport, in which a surgical repair of an avulsed rectus abdominis and adductor longus was combined with a multimodal impairment- and outcomes-based rehabilitation program. Outcomes The patient returned to in-season competition at 5 weeks postoperation. Objective measures were tracked throughout rehabilitation and compared to baseline assessments. Measures such as the Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score and numeric pain-rating scale revealed progress beyond the minimal important difference. Discussion This case report details the clinical reasoning and evidence-informed interventions involved in the return to elite sport. Detailed programming and objective assessment may assist in achieving desired outcomes ahead of previously established timelines. Level of Evidence Therapy, level 4. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2016;46(8):697-706. Epub 3 Jul 2016. doi:10.2519/jospt.2016.6352.

  19. Across plane ionic conductivity of highly oriented neodymium doped ceria thin films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baure, G; Kasse, R M; Rudawski, N G; Nino, J C

    2015-05-14

    A methodology to limit interfacial effects in thin films is proposed and explained. The strategy is to reduce the impact of the electrode interfaces and eliminate cross grain boundaries that impede ionic motion. To this end, highly oriented Nd0.1Ce0.9O2-δ (NDC) nanocrystalline thin films were grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on platinized single crystal a-plane sapphire substrates. High resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HR-XTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) verified the films were textured with columnar grains. The average widths of the columns were approximately 40 nm and not significantly changed by film thickness between 100 and 300 nm. HR-XTEM and XRD determined the {111} planes of NDC were grown preferentially on top of the {111} planes of platinum despite the large lattice mismatch between the two planes. From the XRD patterns, the out of plane strains on the platinum and NDC layers were less than 1%. This can be explained by the coincident site lattice (CSL) theory. Rotating the {111} ceria planes 19.11° with respect to the {111} platinum planes forms a Σ7 boundary where 1 in 7 cerium lattice sites are coincident with the platinum lattice sites. This orientation lowers interfacial energy promoting the preferential alignment of those two planes. The across plane ionic conductivity was measured at low temperatures (<350 °C) for the various film thicknesses. It is here shown that columnar grain growth of ceria can be induced on platinized substrates allowing pathways that are clear of blocking grain boundaries that cause conductivities to diminish as film thickness decreases.

  20. Opioid-sparing effects of the thoracic interfascial plane blocks: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Preet Mohinder Singh

    2018-01-01

    Conclusions: Use of PECS block and its modifications with general anesthesia for breast surgery has significant opioid-sparing effect intraoperatively and during the first 24 h after surgery. It also has higher intraoperative opioid-sparing effect when compared to PVB. During the 1st postoperative day, PVB has slightly more morphine sparing potential that may however be associated with higher complication rates. The present PECS block techniques show marked interstudy variations and need standardization.

  1. Single-shot pectoral plane (PECs I and PECs II) blocks versus continuous local anaesthetic infusion analgesia or both after non-ambulatory breast-cancer surgery: a prospective, randomised, double-blind trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Scanaill, P; Keane, S; Wall, V; Flood, G; Buggy, D J

    2018-04-01

    Pectoral plane blocks (PECs) are increasingly used in analgesia for patients undergoing breast surgery, and were recently found to be at least equivalent to single-shot paravertebral anaesthesia. However, there are no data comparing PECs with the popular practice of continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion (LA infusion) analgesia for breast surgery. Therefore, we compared the efficacy and safety of PECs blocks with LA infusion, or a combination of both in patients undergoing non-ambulatory breast-cancer surgery. This single-centre, prospective, randomised, double-blind trial analysed 45 women to receive either PECs blocks [levobupivacaine 0.25%, 10 ml PECs I and levobupivacaine 0.25%, 20 ml PECs II (PECs group); LA infusion catheter (levobupivacaine 0.1% at 10 ml h -1 for 24 h (LA infusion group); or both (PECs and LA infusion)]. The primary outcome measure was area under the curve of the pain verbal rating score whilst moving vs time (AUC) over 24 h. Secondary outcomes included total opioid consumption at 24 h. AUC moving was mean (SD) 71 (34) mm h -1 vs 58 (41) vs 23 (20) in PECs, LA infusion, and both, respectively; P=0.002. AUC at rest was also significantly lower in patients receiving both. The total 24 h opioid consumption [median (25-75%)] was 14 mg (9-26) vs 11 (8-24) vs 9 (5-11); P=0.4. No adverse events were observed. The combination of both pre-incisional PECs blocks and postoperative LA infusion provides better analgesia over 24 h than either technique alone after non-ambulatory breast-cancer surgery. NCT 03024697. Copyright © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Nearaffine planes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilbrink, H.A.

    1982-01-01

    In this paper we develop a theory for nearaffine planes analogous to the theory of ordinary affine translation planes. In a subsequent paper we shall use this theory to give a characterization of a certain class of Minkowski planes.

  3. Closure and augmentation of bladder exstrophy using rectus abdominis musculo-peritoneal flap

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P Agarwal

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the rectus abdominis myo-peritoneal flap (RAMP technique for the closure and augmentation of small, non-elastic, non-compliant bladder exstrophies. Materials and Methods: The RAMP technique was used in three boys with bladder exstrophy who presented late with small, non-elastic, non-compliant bladder. The clinical outcome, imaging, cystoscopy, biochemical and microbiological studies were assessed during a follow-up of 36 months. Results: Bladder closure and augmentation was achieved in all patients without any complications. There were no urinary tract infections, metabolic problems or electrolyte disturbances and the kidney function remained normal in all patients. Radiography confirmed intact function and anatomy of the urinary tract and cystoscopy showed complete coverage of the inner peritoneal layer of RAMP with uroepithelium. No stone formation or mucous production was detected. Conclusions: The RAMP technique is a good alternative for closing bladder exstrophies and achieves an increase in bladder capacity and compliance. The technique is indicated in the closure of large bladder defects, bladder exstrophies with small, inelastic, non-compliant bladder remnants and failed primary closures.

  4. Specific fibre composition and metabolism of the rectus abdominis muscle of bovine Charolais cattle

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background An important variability of contractile and metabolic properties between muscles has been highlighted. In the literature, the majority of studies on beef sensorial quality concerns M. longissimus thoracis. M. rectus abdominis (RA) is easy to sample without huge carcass depreciation and may appear as an alternative to M. longissimus thoracis for fast and routine physicochemical analysis. It was considered interesting to assess the muscle fibres of M. rectus abdominis in comparison with M. longissimus thoracis (LT) and M. triceps brachii (TB) on the basis of metabolic and contractile properties, area and myosin heavy chain isoforms (MyHC) proportions. Immuno-histochemical, histochemical, histological and enzymological techniques were used. This research concerned two populations of Charolais cattle: RA was compared to TB in a population of 19 steers while RA was compared to LT in a population of 153 heifers. Results RA muscle had higher mean fibre areas (3350 μm2 vs 2142 to 2639 μm2) than the two other muscles. In RA muscle, the slow-oxidative fibres were the largest (3957 μm2) and the fast-glycolytic the smallest (2868 μm2). The reverse was observed in TB muscle (1725 and 2436 μm2 respectively). In RA muscle, the distinction between fast-oxidative-glycolytic and fast-glycolytic fibres appeared difficult or impossible to establish, unlike in the other muscles. Consequently the classification based on ATPase and SDH activities seemed inappropriate, since the FOG fibres presented rather low SDH activity in this muscle in comparison to the other muscles of the carcass. RA muscle had a higher proportion of I fibres than TB and LT muscles, balanced by a lower proportion either of IIX fibres (in comparison to TB muscle) or of IIA fibres (in comparison to LT muscle). However, both oxidative and glycolytic enzyme activities were lower in RA than in TB muscle, although the LDH/ICDH ratio was higher in RA muscle (522 vs 340). Oxidative enzyme activities were

  5. Brief reports: ultrasound-guided obturator nerve block: a proximal interfascial technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taha, Ahmad Muhammad

    2012-01-01

    In this report, I describe and evaluate a proximal ultrasound (US)-guided obturator nerve block technique using an interfascial local anesthetic (LA) injection deep to the pectineus muscle. The pectineus muscle was identified and followed, while the US probe was tilted cranially until the superior pubic ramus was visualized. In this plane, LA was injected interfascially between the pectineus and obturator externus. The median time required to identify the injection site was 4 seconds (95% confidence interval, 3-5 seconds). The median motor block onset was 4 minutes (95% confidence interval, 3-5 minutes). Both obturator nerve branches were blocked successfully in all patients (100%). The US-guided obturator nerve block using interfascial LA injection inferior to the superior pubic ramus, between the pectineus and obturator externus muscles, was shown to be a simple and successful technique.

  6. Bit Plane Coding based Steganography Technique for JPEG2000 Images and Videos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geeta Kasana

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a Bit Plane Coding (BPC based steganography technique for JPEG2000 images and Motion JPEG2000 video is proposed. Embedding in this technique is performed in the lowest significant bit planes of the wavelet coefficients of a cover image. In JPEG2000 standard, the number of bit planes of wavelet coefficients to be used in encoding is dependent on the compression rate and are used in Tier-2 process of JPEG2000. In the proposed technique, Tier-1 and Tier-2 processes of JPEG2000 and Motion JPEG2000 are executed twice on the encoder side to collect the information about the lowest bit planes of all code blocks of a cover image, which is utilized in embedding and transmitted to the decoder. After embedding secret data, Optimal Pixel Adjustment Process (OPAP is applied on stego images to enhance its visual quality. Experimental results show that proposed technique provides large embedding capacity and better visual quality of stego images than existing steganography techniques for JPEG2000 compressed images and videos. Extracted secret image is similar to the original secret image.

  7. Re-exploration of vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap for vaginal reconstruction: Case report and review of the literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua D. Rouch

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous (VRAM flap is a versatile and well-established reconstructive technique for many defects created as a result of colorectal and gynecologic extirpation. However, major re-operation in the pelvis following a VRAM flap reconstruction several months later is uncommon, and the safety and integrity of the VRAM flap in this setting has not been described. This case examines VRAM flap preservation during repeat exploratory laparotomy, and a unique view of the VRAM flap during interval exploration. We demonstrate an intact flap after lysis of adhesions with an audible Doppler signal, and maintenance of flap integrity in the postoperative period. This further substantiates its use as a durable rotational flap for perineal tissue defects.

  8. Achromatic Focal Plane Mask for Exoplanet Imaging Coronagraphy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Kevin Edward; Belikov, Ruslan; Guyon, Olivier; Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham; Wilson, Dan

    2013-01-01

    Recent advances in coronagraph technologies for exoplanet imaging have achieved contrasts close to 1e10 at 4 lambda/D and 1e-9 at 2 lambda/D in monochromatic light. A remaining technological challenge is to achieve high contrast in broadband light; a challenge that is largely limited by chromaticity of the focal plane mask. The size of a star image scales linearly with wavelength. Focal plane masks are typically the same size at all wavelengths, and must be sized for the longest wavelength in the observational band to avoid starlight leakage. However, this oversized mask blocks useful discovery space from the shorter wavelengths. We present here the design, development, and testing of an achromatic focal plane mask based on the concept of optical filtering by a diffractive optical element (DOE). The mask consists of an array of DOE cells, the combination of which functions as a wavelength filter with any desired amplitude and phase transmission. The effective size of the mask scales nearly linearly with wavelength, and allows significant improvement in the inner working angle of the coronagraph at shorter wavelengths. The design is applicable to almost any coronagraph configuration, and enables operation in a wider band of wavelengths than would otherwise be possible. We include initial results from a laboratory demonstration of the mask with the Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization coronagraph.

  9. Anesthesia in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis - is general anesthesia a requisite? A case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sook Hui Chaw

    Full Text Available Abstract Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis is a recently described neurological disorder and an increasingly recognized cause of psychosis, movement disorders and autonomic dysfunction. We report 20-year-old Chinese female who presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, recent memory loss, visual hallucinations and abnormal behavior. Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis was diagnosed and a computed tomography scan of abdomen reviewed a left adnexal tumor. We describe the first such case report of a patient with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis who was given a bilateral transversus abdominis plane block as the sole anesthetic for removal of ovarian tumor. We also discuss the anesthetic issues associated with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis. As discovery of tumor and its removal is the focus of initial treatment in this group of patients, anesthetists will encounter more such cases in the near future.

  10. Surgical excision of the breast giant fibroadenoma under regional anesthesia by Pecs II and internal intercostal plane block: a case report and brief technical description: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hyungtae; Shim, Junho; Kim, Ikthae

    2017-02-01

    A 22-years-old female patient at 171 cm and 67 kg visited the Department of Breast Surgery of the hospital with a mass accompanied with pain on the left side breast as chief complaints. Since physical examination revealed a suspected huge mass, breast surgeon decided to perform surgical excision and requested anesthesia to our department. Surgery of breast tumor is often under local anesthesia. However, in case of big size tumor, surgery is usually performed under general anesthesia. The patient feared general anesthesia. Unlike abdominal surgery, there is no need to control visceral pain for breast and anterior thoracic wall surgery. Therefore, we decided to perform resection under regional anesthesia. Herein, we report a successful anesthetic and pain management of the patient undergoing excision of a huge breast fibroadenoma under regional anesthesia using Pecs II and internal intercostal plane block.

  11. Some Considerations Regarding Plane to Plane Parallelism Error Effects in Robotic Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stelian Alaci

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper shows that by imposing the parallelism constraint between the measured plane and the reference plane, the position of the current plane is not univocal specified and is impossible to specify the way to attain the parallelism errors imposed by accuracy constrains. The parameters involved in the calculus of plane to plane parallelism error can be used to set univocal the relative position between the two planes.

  12. Effect of age and carcass weight on quality traits of m. rectus abdominis from Charolais heifers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellies-Oury, M P; Dumont, R; Perrier, G; Roux, M; Micol, D; Picard, B

    2017-04-01

    In practice cattle may be slaughtered at different combinations of age and weight. As each of these factors could affect meat quality traits, the present work aimed to identify which combination can be expected to increase overall meat quality of m. rectus abdominis of Charolais heifers. Totally, 40 heifers were slaughtered either at 26±1 or at 36±1 months of age. Young heifers were sampled at two different carcass weights (349±12 and 394±8 kg). Old heifers were also sampled at two different carcass weights (397±6 and 451±9 kg). The m. rectus abdominis was excised 24 h postmortem to determine metabolic enzyme activities, myosin heavy-chain isoform proportions, lipid contents, collagen content and collagen solubility. Shear force measurements were evaluated on raw and broiled meat after 14 days of ageing. Meat quality traits scored between 0 and 10 by sensory analysis. Increasing slaughter age from 26 to 36 months had no impact on either raw/broiled shear force (0.31⩽P⩽0.47) and/or meat quality traits (0.62⩽P⩽0.91) or on physicochemical properties of heifer's meat samples. Increasing carcass weight for a similar slaughter age of 26 months had also impact neither on meat quality traits (0.52⩽P⩽0.91) nor on muscular properties. On the contrary, increasing carcass weight for a similar slaughter age of 36 months had induced a decrease of muscular shear force (raw muscle; P=0.009) and a concomitant decrease of total collagen content (P=0.03). Nevertheless, no significant impact on meat quality traits was revealed by the sensorial panel (0.13⩽P⩽0.49). Metabolic enzyme activities (0.13⩽P⩽0.86) and myosin heavy-chain proportions (0.13⩽P⩽0.96) were not significantly impacted by slaughter age and carcass weight. Thus, the impact of increasing carcass weight and/or slaughter age in young Charolais heifers has a limited impact on meat quality traits and associated muscular characteristics. Modulating heifer's cycles (age and/or carcass weight in

  13. Revisiting the Least Force Required to Keep a Block from Sliding

    Science.gov (United States)

    De, Subhranil

    2013-01-01

    This article pertains to a problem on static friction that concerns a block of mass "M" resting on a rough inclined plane. The coefficient of static friction is microsecond and the inclination angle theta is greater than tan[superscript -1] microsecond. This means that some force "F" must be applied (see Fig. 1) to keep the…

  14. Predicted osteotomy planes are accurate when using patient-specific instrumentation for total knee arthroplasty in cadavers: a descriptive analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kievit, A J; Dobbe, J G G; Streekstra, G J; Blankevoort, L; Schafroth, M U

    2018-06-01

    Malalignment of implants is a major source of failure during total knee arthroplasty. To achieve more accurate 3D planning and execution of the osteotomy cuts during surgery, the Signature (Biomet, Warsaw) patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) was used to produce pin guides for the positioning of the osteotomy blocks by means of computer-aided manufacture based on CT scan images. The research question of this study is: what is the transfer accuracy of osteotomy planes predicted by the Signature PSI system for preoperative 3D planning and intraoperative block-guided pin placement to perform total knee arthroplasty procedures? The transfer accuracy achieved by using the Signature PSI system was evaluated by comparing the osteotomy planes predicted preoperatively with the osteotomy planes seen intraoperatively in human cadaveric legs. Outcomes were measured in terms of translational and rotational errors (varus, valgus, flexion, extension and axial rotation) for both tibia and femur osteotomies. Average translational errors between the osteotomy planes predicted using the Signature system and the actual osteotomy planes achieved was 0.8 mm (± 0.5 mm) for the tibia and 0.7 mm (± 4.0 mm) for the femur. Average rotational errors in relation to predicted and achieved osteotomy planes were 0.1° (± 1.2°) of varus and 0.4° (± 1.7°) of anterior slope (extension) for the tibia, and 2.8° (± 2.0°) of varus and 0.9° (± 2.7°) of flexion and 1.4° (± 2.2°) of external rotation for the femur. The similarity between osteotomy planes predicted using the Signature system and osteotomy planes actually achieved was excellent for the tibia although some discrepancies were seen for the femur. The use of 3D system techniques in TKA surgery can provide accurate intraoperative guidance, especially for patients with deformed bone, tailored to individual patients and ensure better placement of the implant.

  15. Compaction of full size blocks of bentonite for the KBS-3 concept. Initial tests for evaluating the technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johanesson, Lars-Erik

    1999-12-01

    Besides the test with the compaction device several other pieces of equipment were tested for the mixing of the bentonite with water, filling of the form with bentonite and lifting of the blocks. The tests of the equipment turned out well. Furthermore the density of the compacted bentonite was in parity with the expected. The compacted blocks had grooves and flanges in order to facilitate the emplacement of the blocks. Unacceptable damages and cracks close to the flanges were observed on the blocks with low water ratio. As a consequence of these damages it is recommended that the form is modified so that blocks with plane surfaces can be made

  16. Surface electromyography activity of the rectus abdominis, internal oblique, and external oblique muscles during forced expiration in healthy adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ito, Kenichi; Nonaka, Koji; Ogaya, Shinya; Ogi, Atsushi; Matsunaka, Chiaki; Horie, Jun

    2016-06-01

    We aimed to characterize rectus abdominis, internal oblique, and external oblique muscle activity in healthy adults under expiratory resistance using surface electromyography. We randomly assigned 42 healthy adult subjects to 3 groups: 30%, 20%, and 10% maximal expiratory intraoral pressure (PEmax). After measuring 100% PEmax and muscle activity during 100% PEmax, the activity and maximum voluntary contraction of each muscle during the assigned experimental condition were measured. At 100% PEmax, the external oblique (pinternal oblique (pexternal oblique (pinternal oblique (pexternal oblique: pinternal oblique: p<0.01). The abdominal oblique muscles are the most active during forced expiration. Moreover, 30% PEmax is the minimum intensity required to achieve significant, albeit very slight, muscle activity during expiratory resistance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Experimental and numerical response of rigid slender blocks with geometrical defects under seismic excitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathey Charlie

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The present work investigates on the influence of small geometrical defects on the behavior of slender rigid blocks. A comprehensive experimental campaign was carried out on one of the shake tables of CEA/Saclay in France. The tested model was a massive steel block with standard manufacturing quality. Release, free oscillations tests as well as shake table tests revealed a non-negligible out-of-plane motion even in the case of apparently plane initial conditions or excitations. This motion exhibits a highly reproducible part for a short duration that was used to calibrate a numerical geometrically asymmetrical model. The stability of this model when subjected to 2 000 artificial seismic horizontal bidirectional signals was compared to the stability of a symmetrical one. This study showed that the geometrical imperfections slightly increase the rocking and overturning probabilities under bidirectional seismic excitations in a narrow range of peak ground acceleration.

  18. Instability of in-plane vortices in two-dimensional easy-plane ferromagnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wysin, G.M.

    1994-01-01

    An analysis of the core region of an in-plane vortex in the two-dimensional Heisenberg model with easy-plane anisotropy λ=J z /J xy leads to a clear understanding of the instability towards transformation into an out-of-plane vortex as a function of anisotropy. The anisotropy parameter λ c at which the in-plane vortex becomes unstable and develops into an out-of-plane vortex is determined with an accuracy comparable to computer simulations for square, hexagonal, and triangular lattices. For λ c , the in-plane vortex is stable but exhibits a normal mode whose frequency goes to zero as ω∝(λ c -λ) 1/2 as λ approaches λ c . For λ>λ c , the static nonzero out-of-plane spin components grow as (λ-λ c ) 1/2 . The lattice dependence of λ c is determined strongly by the number of spins in the core plaquette, is fundamentally a discreteness effect, and cannot be obtained in a continuum theory

  19. Bilateral Subpectoral Interfascial Plane Catheters for Analgesia for Sternal Fractures: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raza, Irfan; Narayanan, Madankumar; Venkataraju, Arun; Ciocarlan, Alexandra

    2016-01-01

    Sternal fractures occur after deceleration injuries such as falls and road traffic accidents. Recovery from isolated fractures is excellent, but mortality increases dramatically with concurrent chest injuries such as rib fractures and soft tissue injuries. Short-term complications include chest pain, which prevents patients from taking deep breaths and coughing, thereby predisposing them to chest infections. We present a case of a 73-year-old woman with sternal fracture in whom enteral analgesia was inadequate and who was intolerant to intravenous opiates. The patient was successfully treated with a continuous infusion of local anesthetic into the subpectoral interfascial plane. We also discuss the use and potential benefits of the subpectoral interfascial plane block in the treatment of pain from sternal fractures.

  20. Heteroepitaxial growth of basal plane stacking fault free a-plane GaN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wieneke, Matthias; Hempel, Thomas; Noltemeyer, Martin; Witte, Hartmut; Dadgar, Armin; Blaesing, Juergen; Christen, Juergen; Krost, Alois [Otto-von-Guericke Universitaet Magdeburg, FNW/IEP, Magdeburg (Germany)

    2010-07-01

    Growth of light emitting quantum-wells based on a-plane GaN is a possibility to reduce or even to avoid polarization correlated luminescence red shift and reduction of radiative recombination efficiency. But until now heteroepitaxially grown a-plane GaN films are characterized by a poor crystalline quality expressed by a high density of basal plane stacking faults (BSF) and partial dislocations. We present Si doped a-plane GaN films grown on r-plane sapphire substrates by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy using high temperature AlGaN nucleation layers. FE-SEM images revealed three dimensionally grown GaN crystallites sized up to tenth micrometer in the basal plane and a few tenth micrometers along the c-axes. Though, the full width at half maxima of the X-ray diffraction {omega}-scans of the in-plane GaN(1 anti 100) and GaN(0002) Bragg reflections exhibited a very high crystal quality. Furthermore, luminescence spectra were dominated by near band gap emission, while there was no separated peak of the basal plane stacking fault. In summary we present heteroepitaxially grown a-plane GaN without an evidence of basal plane stacking faults in X-ray diffraction measurements and luminescence spectra.

  1. An efficient, block-by-block algorithm for inverting a block tridiagonal, nearly block Toeplitz matrix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reuter, Matthew G; Hill, Judith C

    2012-01-01

    We present an algorithm for computing any block of the inverse of a block tridiagonal, nearly block Toeplitz matrix (defined as a block tridiagonal matrix with a small number of deviations from the purely block Toeplitz structure). By exploiting both the block tridiagonal and the nearly block Toeplitz structures, this method scales independently of the total number of blocks in the matrix and linearly with the number of deviations. Numerical studies demonstrate this scaling and the advantages of our method over alternatives.

  2. Shear Creep Simulation of Structural Plane of Rock Mass Based on Discontinuous Deformation Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guoxin Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Numerical simulations of the creep characteristics of the structural plane of rock mass are very useful. However, most existing simulation methods are based on continuum mechanics and hence are unsuitable in the case of large displacements and deformations. The discontinuous deformation analysis method proposed by Genhua is a discrete one and has a significant advantage when simulating the contacting problem of blocks. In this study, we combined the viscoelastic rheological model of Burgers with the discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA method. We also derived the recurrence formula for the creep deformation increment with the time step during numerical simulations. Based on the minimum potential energy principle, the general equilibrium equation was derived, and the shear creep deformation in the structural plane was considered. A numerical program was also developed and its effectiveness was confirmed based on the curves obtained by the creep test of the structural plane of a rock mass under different stress levels. Finally, the program was used to analyze the mechanism responsible for the creep features of the structural plane in the case of the toppling deformation of the rock slope. The results showed that the extended DDA method is an effective one.

  3. Entropy generation due to external fluid flow and heat transfer from a cylinder between parallel planes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melhem Omar A.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the present study, second law analysis is introduced for circular cylinder confined between parallel planes. An analytical approach is adopted to study the effects of block age, Reynolds and Prandtl numbers on the entropy generation due to the laminar flow and heat transfer. Four different fluids are considered in the present analysis for comparison purposes. Heat transfer for the cylinder at an isothermal boundary condition is incorporated. In general, the entropy generation rate decreases as the blockage ratio decreases. In addition, the entropy generation rate increases with increasing Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. At a fixed Reynolds number, the effect of block age becomes more notice able for higher Prandtl number fluid. Similarly, for the same fluid, the effect of block age becomes more no tice able as the Reynolds number increases.

  4. [Anesthesia in anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis - is general anesthesia a requisite? A case report].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaw, Sook Hui; Foo, Li Lian; Chan, Lucy; Wong, Kang Kwong; Abdullah, Suhailah; Lim, Boon Kiong

    Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis is a recently described neurological disorder and an increasingly recognized cause of psychosis, movement disorders and autonomic dysfunction. We report 20-year-old Chinese female who presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, recent memory loss, visual hallucinations and abnormal behavior. Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis was diagnosed and a computed tomography scan of abdomen reviewed a left adnexal tumor. We describe the first such case report of a patient with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis who was given a bilateral transversus abdominis plane block as the sole anesthetic for removal of ovarian tumor. We also discuss the anesthetic issues associated with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis. As discovery of tumor and its removal is the focus of initial treatment in this group of patients, anesthetists will encounter more such cases in the near future. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  5. The position of lingula as an index for inferior alveolar nerve block injection in 7-11-year-old children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezoddini Ardakani, Fatemeh; Bahrololoumi, Zahra; Zangouie Booshehri, Maryam; Navab Azam, Alireza; Ayatollahi, Fatemeh

    2010-01-01

    Inferior alveolar nerve block injection is one of the common intra oral anesthetic techniques, with a failure rate of 15-20%. The aim of this study was to evaluate the position of the lingula as an index for this injection. Thirty eight panoramic radiographs of 7-11 year old patients were analyzed and the distance between the lingula index and occlusal plane was measured. Then, lower alveolar nerve block injection was performed on 88 children. Finally, a visual analogue scale was used to measure the rate of pain in the patients. This distance increased with age and in children younger than nine years is -0.45 mm on the right side and -0.95 mm on the left side. This distance in children older than 9 years is -0.23 mm on the right side and 0.47 mm on the left side. The success rates of inferior alveolar nerve block injection based on lingual index were 49% on the right side and 53.8% on the left side. As the lingual index has various positions and its distance from the occlusal plane increases with age, it is not an appropriate landmark for inferior alveolar nerve block injection.

  6. Affine planes, ternary rings, and examples of non-Desarguesian planes

    OpenAIRE

    Ivanov, Nikolai V.

    2016-01-01

    The paper is devoted to a detailed self-contained exposition of a part of the theory of affine planes leading to a construction of affine (or, equivalently, projective) planes not satisfying the Desarques axiom. It is intended to complement the introductory expositions of the theory of affine and projective planes. A novelty of our exposition is a new notation for the ternary operation in a ternary ring, much more suggestive than the standard one.

  7. An Algorithm for constructing Hjelmslev planes

    OpenAIRE

    Hall, Joanne L.; Rao, Asha

    2013-01-01

    Projective Hjelmslev planes and Affine Hjelmselv planes are generalisations of projective planes and affine planes. We present an algorithm for constructing a projective Hjelmslev planes and affine Hjelsmelv planes using projective planes, affine planes and orthogonal arrays. We show that all 2-uniform projective Hjelmslev planes, and all 2-uniform affine Hjelsmelv planes can be constructed in this way. As a corollary it is shown that all 2-uniform Affine Hjelmselv planes are sub-geometries o...

  8. Cross plane scattering correction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shao, L.; Karp, J.S.

    1990-01-01

    Most previous scattering correction techniques for PET are based on assumptions made for a single transaxial plane and are independent of axial variations. These techniques will incorrectly estimate the scattering fraction for volumetric PET imaging systems since they do not take the cross-plane scattering into account. In this paper, the authors propose a new point source scattering deconvolution method (2-D). The cross-plane scattering is incorporated into the algorithm by modeling a scattering point source function. In the model, the scattering dependence both on axial and transaxial directions is reflected in the exponential fitting parameters and these parameters are directly estimated from a limited number of measured point response functions. The authors' results comparing the standard in-plane point source deconvolution to the authors' cross-plane source deconvolution show that for a small source, the former technique overestimates the scatter fraction in the plane of the source and underestimate the scatter fraction in adjacent planes. In addition, the authors also propose a simple approximation technique for deconvolution

  9. Morphological Evolution of Gyroid-Forming Block Copolymer Thin Films with Varying Solvent Evaporation Rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yi-Hsiu; Lo, Ting-Ya; She, Ming-Shiuan; Ho, Rong-Ming

    2015-08-05

    In this study, we aim to examine the morphological evolution of block copolymer (BCP) nanostructured thin films through solvent evaporation at different rates for solvent swollen polystyrene-block-poly(l-lactide) (PS-PLLA). Interesting phase transitions from disorder to perpendicular cylinder and then gyroid can be found while using a partially selective solvent for PS to swell PS-PLLA thin film followed by solvent evaporation. During the transitions, gyroid-forming BCP thin film with characteristic crystallographic planes of (111)G, (110)G, and (211)G parallel to air surface can be observed, and will gradually transform into coexisting (110)G and (211)G planes, and finally transforms to (211)G plane due to the preferential segregation of constituted block to the surface (i.e., the thermodynamic origin for self-assembly) that affects the relative amount of each component at the air surface. With the decrease on the evaporation rate, the disorder phase will transform to parallel cylinder and then directly to (211)G without transition to perpendicular cylinder phase. Most importantly, the morphological evolution of PS-PLLA thin films is strongly dependent upon the solvent removal rate only in the initial stage of the evaporation process due to the anisotropy of cylinder structure. Once the morphology is transformed back to the isotropic gyroid structure after long evaporation, the morphological evolution will only relate to the variation of the surface composition. Similar phase transitions at the substrate can also be obtained by controlling the ratio of PLLA-OH to PS-OH homopolymers to functionalize the substrate. As a result, the fabrication of well-defined nanostructured thin films with controlled orientation can be achieved by simple swelling and deswelling with controlled evaporation rate.

  10. In depth fusion flame spreading with a deuterium—tritium plane fuel density profile for plasma block ignition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malekynia, B.; Razavipour, S. S.

    2012-01-01

    Solid-state fuel ignition was given by Chu and Bobin according to the hydrodynamic theory at x = 0 qualitatively. A high threshold energy flux density, i.e., E* = 4.3 × 10 12 J/m 2 , has been reached. Recently, fast ignition by employing clean petawatt—picosecond laser pulses was performed. The anomalous phenomena were observed to be based on suppression of prepulses. The accelerated plasma block was used to ignite deuterium—tritium fuel at solid-state density. The detailed analysis of the thermonuclear wave propagation was investigated. Also the fusion conditions at x ≠ 0 layers were clarified by exactly solving hydrodynamic equations for plasma block ignition. In this paper, the applied physical mechanisms are determined for nonlinear force laser driven plasma blocks, thermonuclear reaction, heat transfer, electron—ion equilibration, stopping power of alpha particles, bremsstrahlung, expansion, density dependence, and fluid dynamics. New ignition conditions may be obtained by using temperature equations, including the density profile that is obtained by the continuity equation and expansion velocity. The density is only a function of x and independent of time. The ignition energy flux density, E* t , for the x ≠ 0 layers is 1.95 × 10 12 J/m 2 . Thus threshold ignition energy in comparison with that at x = 0 layers would be reduced to less than 50 percent. (physics of gases, plasmas, and electric discharges)

  11. The Position of Lingula as an Index for Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block Injection in 7-11-Year-Old Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Ezoddini Ardakani

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and aims. Inferior alveolar nerve block injection is one of the common intra oral anesthetic techniques, with a failure rate of 15-20%. The aim of this study was to evaluate the position of the lingula as an index for this injection. Materials and methods. Thirty eight panoramic radiographs of 7–11 year old patients were analyzed and the distance between the lingula index and occlusal plane was measured. Then, lower alveolar nerve block injection was performed on 88 children. Finally, a visual analogue scale was used to measure the rate of pain in the patients. Results. This distance increased with age and in children younger than nine years is −0.45 mm on the right side and −0.95 mm on the left side. This distance in children older than 9 years is −0.23 mm on the right side and 0.47 mm on the left side. The success rates of inferior alveolar nerve block injection based on lingual index were 49% on the right side and 53.8% on the left side. Conclusion. As the lingual index has various positions and its distance from the occlusal plane increases with age, it is not an appropriate landmark for inferior alveolar nerve block injection.

  12. [Novel echogenic needle for ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve block "Hakko type CCR"].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takayama, Wataru; Yasumura, Rie; Kaneko, Takehiko; Kobayashi, Yoshiro; Kamada, Takaaki; Yoshikawa, Tamotsu; Aoyama, Yasuhiko

    2009-04-01

    A novel echogenic insulated nerve block needle (CCR-needle: Echogenic Needle Type CCR; Hakko, Japan) is commercially available since 2006 in Japan. This needle has three echogenic dimples, namely corner cube reflectors (CCR) on its tip. The CCR-needle will potentially provide a significant advantage for detecting the needle tip. In this report, we firstly evaluated this new disposable echogenic needle in simulation phantom, and demonstrated improved visibility of the needle tip. Afterwards, an interscalene brachial plexus block was performed on a male patient undergoing shoulder surgery. The needle insertion procedure was the "out of plane" ultrasound-guided technique using simultaneous electrical nerve stimulation. The surgery was successfully conducted without any complications.

  13. Transversus abdominis is part of a global not local muscle synergy during arm movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, S L; Lay, B; Allison, G T

    2013-10-01

    The trunk muscle transversus abdominis (TrA) is thought to be controlled independently of the global trunk muscles. Methodological issues in the 1990s research such as unilateral electromyography and a limited range of arm movements justify a re-examination of this theory. The hypothesis tested is that TrA bilateral co-contraction is a typical muscle synergy during arm movement. The activity of 6 pairs of trunk and lower limb muscles was recorded using bilateral electromyography during anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) associated with the arm movements. The integrated APA electromyographical signals were analyzed for muscle synergy using Principle Component Analysis. TrA does not typically bilaterally co-contract during arm movements (1 out of 6 participants did). APA muscle activity of all muscles during asymmetrical arm movements typically reflected a direction specific diagonal pattern incorporating a twisting motion to transfer energy from the ground up. This finding is not consistent with the hypothesis that TrA plays a unique role providing bilateral, feedforward, multidirectional stiffening of the spine. This has significant implications to the theories underlying the role of TrA in back pain and in the training of isolated bilateral co-contraction of TrA in the prophylaxis of back pain. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Algebraic Structures on MOD Planes

    OpenAIRE

    Kandasamy, Vasantha; Ilanthenral, K.; Smarandache, Florentin

    2015-01-01

    Study of MOD planes happens to a very recent one. In this book, systematically algebraic structures on MOD planes like, MOD semigroups, MOD groups and MOD rings of different types are defined and studied. Such study is innovative for a large four quadrant planes are made into a small MOD planes. Several distinct features enjoyed by these MOD planes are defined, developed and described.

  15. Robotic Transversus Abdominis Release (TAR: is it possible to offer minimally invasive surgery for abdominal wall complex defects?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MARIA VITÓRIA FRANÇA DO AMARAL

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT We describe the preliminary national experience and the early results of the use of robotic surgery to perform the posterior separation of abdominal wall components by the Transversus Abdominis Release (TAR technique for the correction of complex defects of the abdominal wall. We performed the procedures between 04/2/2015 and 06/15/2015 and the follow-up time was up to six months, with a minimum of two months. The mean surgical time was five hours and 40 minutes. Two patients required laparoscopic re-intervention, since one developed hernia by peritoneal migration of the mesh and one had mesh extrusion. The procedure proved to be technically feasible, with a still long surgical time. Considering the potential advantages of robotic surgery and those related to TAR and the results obtained when these two techniques are associated, we conclude that they seem to be a good option for the correction of complex abdominal wall defects.

  16. The efficacy of supplemental intraosseous anesthesia after insufficient mandibular block

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samir Prohić

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available It is a well-known scientific fact that only a small percentage of infiltration of inferior alveolar nerve is clinically proven to be efficient. The objective of this study was to determine the anesthetic efficacy of supplemental intraosseous injection, used after the insufficient classical mandibular block that didn't provide deep pulp anesthesia of mandibular molar planed for extraction. The experimental teeth consisted of 98 mandibular molars with clinical indication for extraction. Based on the history of disease, we indicated the extraction of the tooth. After that each tooth was tested with a electric pulp tester P1. We tested the pulp vitality and precisely determined the level of vitality. After that, each patient received classical mandibular block, and the pulp vitality was tested again. If the pulp tester indicated negative vitality for the certain mandibular molar, and the patient didn't complain about pain or discomfort during the extraction, the molar was extracted and the result was added to anesthetic success rate for the classical mandibular block. If, five minutes after receiving the mandibular block, the pulp tester indicated positive vitality (parameters of vitality or the patient complained about pain or discomfort (parameters of pain and discomfort, we used the Stabident intraosseous anesthesia system. Three minutes after the application of supplemental intraosseous injection the molar was tested with the pulp tester again. The anesthetic solution used in both anesthetic techniques is lidocaine with 1:100.000 epinephrine. The results of this study indicate that the anesthetic efficacy of the mandibular block is 74.5%, and that supplemental intraosseous anesthesia, applied after the insufficient mandibular block, provides pulpal anesthesia in 94.9% of mandibular molars. The difference between anesthetic efficacy of the classical mandibular block and anesthetic efficacy of the supplemental intraosseous anesthesia, applied

  17. The efficacy of supplemental intraosseous anesthesia after insufficient mandibular block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prohić, Samir; Sulejmanagić, Halid; Secić, Sadeta

    2005-02-01

    It is a well-known scientific fact that only a small percentage of infiltration of inferior alveolar nerve is clinically proven to be efficient. The objective of this study was to determine the anesthetic efficacy of supplemental intraosseous injection, used after the insufficient classical mandibular block that didn't provide deep pulp anesthesia of mandibular molar planed for extraction. The experimental teeth consisted of 98 mandibular molars with clinical indication for extraction. Based on the history of disease, we indicated the extraction of the tooth. After that each tooth was tested with a electric pulp tester P1. We tested the pulp vitality and precisely determined the level of vitality. After that, each patient received classical mandibular block, and the pulp vitality was tested again. If the pulp tester indicated negative vitality for the certain mandibular molar, and the patient didn't complain about pain or discomfort during the extraction, the molar was extracted and the result was added to anesthetic success rate for the classical mandibular block. If, five minutes after receiving the mandibular block, the pulp tester indicated positive vitality (parameters of vitality) or the patient complained about pain or discomfort (parameters of pain and discomfort), we used the Stabident intraosseous anesthesia system. Three minutes after the application of supplemental intraosseous injection the molar was tested with the pulp tester again. The anesthetic solution used in both anesthetic techniques is lidocaine with 1:100.000 epinephrine. The results of this study indicate that the anesthetic efficacy of the mandibular block is 74.5%, and that supplemental intraosseous anesthesia, applied after the insufficient mandibular block, provides pulpal anesthesia in 94.9% of mandibular molars. The difference between anesthetic efficacy of the classical mandibular block and anesthetic efficacy of the supplemental intraosseous anesthesia, applied after the

  18. Effect of cyclic block loading on character of deformation and strength of structural materials in plane stressed state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kul'chitskij, N.M.; Troshchenko, A.V.; Koval'chuk, B.I.; Khamaza, L.A.; Nikolaev, I.A.

    1982-01-01

    The paper is concerned with choice of conditions for preliminary cyclic block loading, determination of fatigue failure resistance characteristics for various structural materials under regular and selected block loading, investigation of the preliminary cyclic loading effect on regularities of elastoplastic deformation of materials concerned in the biaxial stressed state. Under selected conditions of cyclic block loading the character of damage accumulation is close to the linear law for the materials of high-srength doped steel, and VT6 alloys of concern. These materials in the initial state and after preliminary cyclic loading are anisotropic. Axial direction is characterized by a higher plastic strain resistance for steel and tangential direction - for VT6 alloy. The generalized strain curves for the materials in question are not invariant as to the stressed state type. It is stated that the effect of preliminary unsteady cyclic loading on resistance and general regularities of material deformation in the complex stressed state is insignificant. It is observed that stress-strain properties of the materials tend to vary in the following way: plastic strain resistance of the steel lowers and that of VT6 rises, anisotropy of the materials somehow decreases. The variation in the material anisotropy may be attributed to a decrease in residual stresses resulting from preliminary cyclic loading

  19. Fault plane solutions of microearthquakes in the Loviisa region in south-eastern Finland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saari, J.; Slunga, R.

    1996-06-01

    Fifteen microearthquakes have been recorded by a small seismic network in the Loviisa area from 1985 to 1988. Fault plane solutions of these events based on spectral amplitudes and polarities of vertical first motions are presented. In addition, multievent locations have been performed to define the geometry of the seismically active block boundaries. The study also deals with the possibilities to use modern data acquisition and analysis techniques as a tool for measuring slow block movements of the bedrock. The results are discussed with the framework of the previous seismic and seismotectonic interpretations obtained by more conventional methods. The small number of seismic stations available prevents in many cases definite conclusions. The seismic network only consisted of three stations. The seismic events were clustered in five source areas. In these areas, the most probable fault geometries and mechanisms associated with the seismic observations are presented. (29 refs.)

  20. Post-caesarean analgesia: What is new?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukhyanti Kerai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Adequate post-operative analgesia after caesarean section (CS is vital as it impacts the distinct surgical recovery requirements of the parturient. Although newer analgesic modalities and drugs for post-caesarean analgesia have been introduced over the recent years, review of the literature suggests suggests that we are far from achieving the goals of optimum post-operative analgesia. We conducted a systematic review of recent advances in modalities for post-caesarean analgesia. After systematic search and quality assessment of studies, we included a total of 51 randomised controlled trials that evaluated the role of opioids, transversus abdominis plane (TAP block, wound infiltration/infusion, ketamine, gabapentin and ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block (II-IH NB for post-caesarean analgesia. Administration of opioids still remains the gold standard for post-operative analgesia, but the associated troublesome side effects have led to the mandatory incorporation of non-opioid analgesics in post-CS analgesia regime. Among the non-opioid techniques, TAP block is the most investigated modality of the last decade. The analgesic efficacy of TAP block as a part of multimodal analgesia is established in post-CS cases where intrathecal morphine is not employed and in CS under general anaesthesia. Among non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, COX-I inhibitors and intravenous paracetamol are found to be useful in post-operative analgesic regimen. The perioperative use of ketamine is found useful only in CS done under spinal anaesthesia; no benefit is seen where general anaesthesia is employed. Wound infiltration with local anaesthetics, systemic gabapentin and II-IH NB need further trials to assess their efficacy.

  1. Comparative analysis of open and robotic transversus abdominis release for ventral hernia repair.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bittner, James G; Alrefai, Sameer; Vy, Michelle; Mabe, Micah; Del Prado, Paul A R; Clingempeel, Natasha L

    2018-02-01

    Transversus abdominis release (TAR) is a safe, effective strategy to repair complex ventral incisional hernia (VIH); however, open TAR (o-TAR) often necessitates prolonged hospitalization. Robot-assisted TAR (r-TAR) may benefit short-term outcomes and shorten convalescence. This study compares 90-day outcomes of o-TAR and r-TAR for VIH repair. A single-center, retrospective review of patients who underwent o-TAR or r-TAR for VIH from 2015 to 2016 was conducted. Patient and hernia characteristics, operative data, and 90-day outcomes were compared. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay, and secondary metrics were morbidity, surgical site events, and readmission. Overall, 102 patients were identified (76 o-TAR and 26 r-TAR). Patients were comparable regarding age, gender, body mass index, and the presence of co-morbidities. Diabetes was more common in the open group (22.3 vs. 0%, P = 0.01). Most VIH defects were midline (89.5 vs. 83%, P = 0.47) and recurrent (52.6 vs. 58.3%, P = 0.65). Hernia characteristics were similar regarding mean defect size (260 ± 209 vs. 235 ± 107 cm 2 , P = 0.55), mesh removal, and type/size mesh implanted. Average operative time was longer in the r-TAR cohort (287 ± 121 vs. 365 ± 78 min, P VIH offers the short-term benefits of low morbidity and decreased hospital length of stay compared to open TAR.

  2. In-plane and out-of-plane emission of nuclear matter in Au+Au collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bastid, N.; Dupieux, P.; Ramillien, V.; Alard, J.P.; Amouroux, V.; Berger, L.; Boussange, S.; Fraysse, L.; Ibnouzahir, M.; Montarou, G.

    1995-01-01

    Collective flow effects in Au (E/A = 150 to 800 MeV) on Au collisions measured with the phase I setup of the FOPI detector at GSI - Darmstadt are presented. Directed side ward flow is studied, by the mean transverse momentum in the reaction plane x (y)>, without reaction plane reconstruction. A more quantitative measurement of the global amount of directed side ward flow is also made and some comparisons with the predictions of different QMD versions are given. Experimental results concerning the preferential emission of particles in a direction perpendicular to the reaction plane are also presented. Azimuthal distributions of fragments around the beam axis, with respect to the reaction plane are studied in the mid-rapidity region and the associated R N (out-of-plane/in-plane ratios) are extracted. The dependence of R N upon transverse momentum, centrality, fragment charge and bombarding energy is studied. (authors). 24 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab

  3. Effect of lone-electron-pair cations on the orientation of crystallographic shear planes in anion-deficient perovskites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batuk, Dmitry; Batuk, Maria; Abakumov, Artem M; Tsirlin, Alexander A; McCammon, Catherine; Dubrovinsky, Leonid; Hadermann, Joke

    2013-09-03

    Factors affecting the structure and orientation of the crystallographic shear (CS) planes in anion-deficient perovskites were investigated using the (Pb(1-z)Sr(z))(1-x)Fe(1+x)O(3-y) perovskites as a model system. The isovalent substitution of Sr(2+) for Pb(2+) highlights the influence of the A cation electronic structure because these cations exhibit very close ionic radii. Two compositional ranges have been identified in the system: 0.05 ≤ z ≤ 0.2, where the CS plane orientation gradually varies but stays close to (203)p, and 0.3 ≤ z ≤ 0.45 with (101)p CS planes. The incommensurately modulated structure of Pb0.792Sr0.168Fe1.040O2.529 was refined from neutron powder diffraction data using the (3 + 1)D approach (space group X2/m(α0γ), X = (1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2), a = 3.9512(1) Å, b = 3.9483(1) Å, c = 3.9165(1) Å, β = 93.268(2)°, q = 0.0879(1)a* + 0.1276(1)c*, RF = 0.023, RP = 0.029, and T = 900 K). A comparison of the compounds with different CS planes indicates that the orientation of the CS planes is governed mainly by the stereochemical activity of the lone-electron-pair cations inside the perovskite blocks.

  4. Comparing the effects of shallomin lotion and cryotherapy on treating plane warts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reza Yaaghubi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Wart is a common transferable skin disease that is caused by human papilloma virus. Choosing the best treatment method can vary based on age, therapeutic goal, complications, and wart place. Due to antibacterial effect of shallomin (hirtifolium Boiss extract and since its effect has not been studied yet, it was compared to cryotherapy therapeutic methods for treating patients with plane warts. Methods: The present study was a randomized clinical trial that was carried out on 40 patients. Sampling was conducted simply by 4 block randomization method. The selected patients were assigned into two Groups of A and B. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive methods, and then, statistical tests including Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, and t-test were run to determine the relationship between qualitative and quantitative variables. In so doing, SPSS software version 16.0 was utilized. Results: Comparing the means showed that as opposed to cryotherapy, shallomin could not lead to a significant decrease in the size and number of warts. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, which is the first and the only investigation into the effects of shallomin on treating plane warts, it can be stated that despite of its antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-herpetic properties, shallamin cannot be a clinically effective option for treating plane warts.

  5. Influence of mandibular fixation method on stability of the maxillary occlusal plane after occlusal plane alteration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yosano, Akira; Katakura, Akira; Takaki, Takashi; Shibahara, Takahiko

    2009-05-01

    In this study, we investigated how method of mandibular fixation influenced longterm postoperative stability of the maxilla in Class III cases. In particular, we investigated change in the maxillary occlusal plane after Occlusal Plane Alteration. Therefore, we focused on change in the palatal plane to evaluate stability of the maxillary occlusal plane, as the position of the palatal plane affects the maxillary occlusal plane. This study included 16 patients diagnosed with mandibular protrusion. Alteration of the occlusal plane was achieved by clockwise rotation of the maxilla by Le Fort I osteotomy and mandibular setback was performed by bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy. We analyzed and examined lateral cephalometric radiographs taken at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after surgery. Stability achieved by two methods of mandibular fixation was compared. In one group of patients (group S) titanium screws were used, and in the other group (group P) titanium-locking mini-plates were used. No significant displacement was recognized in group S, whereas an approximately 0.7mm upward vertical displacement was recognized in the anterior nasal spine in group P. As a result, not only the angle of the palatal plane and S-N plane, but also occlusal plane angle in group P showed a greater decrease than that in group S. The results suggest that fixing the mandible with screws yielded greater stability of the maxilla and maxillary occlusal plane than fixing the mandible with titanium plates.

  6. Topologically protected edge states for out-of-plane and in-plane bulk elastic waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huo, Shao-Yong; Chen, Jiu-Jiu; Huang, Hong-Bo

    2018-04-01

    Topological phononic insulators (TPnIs) show promise for application in the manipulation of acoustic waves for the design of low-loss transmission and perfectly integrated communication devices. Since solid phononic crystals exist as a transverse polarization mode and a mixed longitudinal-transverse polarization mode, the realization of topological edge states for both out-of-plane and in-plane bulk elastic waves is desirable to enhance the controllability of the edge waves in solid systems. In this paper, a two-dimensional (2D) solid/solid hexagonal-latticed phononic system that simultaneously supports the topologically protected edge states for out-of-plane and in-plane bulk elastic waves is investigated. Firstly, two pairs of two-fold Dirac cones, respectively corresponding to the out-of-plane and in-plane waves, are obtained at the same frequency by tuning the crystal parameters. Then, a strategy of zone folding is invoked to form double Dirac cones. By shrinking and expanding the steel scatterer, the lattice symmetry is broken, and band inversions induced, giving rise to an intriguing topological phase transition. Finally, the topologically protected edge states for both out-of-plane and in-plane bulk elastic waves, which can be simultaneously located at the frequency range from 1.223 to 1.251 MHz, are numerically observed. Robust pseudospin-dependent elastic edge wave propagation along arbitrary paths is further demonstrated. Our results will significantly broaden its practical application in the engineering field.

  7. Role of regional anesthesia for placement of peritoneal dialysis catheter under ultrasound guidance: Our experience with 52 end-stage renal disease patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Smaranjit Chatterjee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The number of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD has shown a consistent rise in India in recent years. Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD remains one of the safe and effective forms of treatment. In this study, we have tried to assess the effectiveness of field block technique for analgesia during catheter placement surgery until 24 h postoperatively, also, if it can obviate the need for general anesthesia in these high-risk patients. Materials and Methods: We studied 52 ESRD patients from 2010 to 2012 who were posted for CAPD catheterization in the Department of Urology, Care Hospital, Hyderabad, India. Under ultrasound guidance, "unilateral posterior" and "unilateral subcostal" transversus abdominis plane block anesthesia were given for the placement of CAPD catheter. Patient′s intra-operative pain and post-operative pain were recorded with visual analog scores (VAS and analyzed. Results: All patients in our study belonged to American Society of Anesthesiologists category 2 or 3 with multiple co-morbidities. 41 out of 52 patients required no supplemental analgesia during the procedure; 8 patients needed additional infiltration of local anesthetic during skin incisions. Three patients required supplemental analgesia and were considered as failure. A VAS of two was noted in 30 patients and 1 in 19 Patients. No Patient had significant pain 24 h post operatively. No local complication was noted in any patient. Conclusion: CAPD Catheterization under regional field block remains safe and effective options for ESRD patients.

  8. Existence of Projective Planes

    OpenAIRE

    Perrott, Xander

    2016-01-01

    This report gives an overview of the history of finite projective planes and their properties before going on to outline the proof that no projective plane of order 10 exists. The report also investigates the search carried out by MacWilliams, Sloane and Thompson in 1970 [12] and confirms their result by providing independent verification that there is no vector of weight 15 in the code generated by the projective plane of order 10.

  9. Full color stop bands in hybrid organic/inorganic block copolymer photonic gels by swelling-freezing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Changjoon; Kim, Eunjoo; Baek, Heeyoel; Hwang, Kyosung; Kwak, Dongwoo; Kang, Youngjong; Thomas, Edwin L

    2009-06-10

    We report a facile way of fabricating hybrid organic/inorganic photonic gels by selective swelling and subsequent infiltration of SiO(2) into one type of lamellar microdomain previously self-assembled from modest-molecular-weight block copolymers. Transparent, in-plane lamellar films were first prepared by assembly of polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP), and subsequently the P2VP domains were swollen with a selective solvent, methanol. The swollen structures were then fixated by synthesizing SiO(2) nanoparticles within P2VP domains. The resulting frozen photonic gels (f-photonic gels) exhibited strong reflective colors with stop bands across the visible region of wavelengths.

  10. Gravitational Couplings for Generalized Orientifold Planes

    OpenAIRE

    Giraldo, Juan Fernando Ospina

    2000-01-01

    The Wess-Zumino action for generalized orientifold planes (GOp-planes) is presented and a series power expantion is realized from which processes that involves GOp-planes, RR-forms, gravitons and gaugeons, are obtained. Finally non-standard GOp-planes are showed.

  11. Direct Observation of the BCC (100) Plane in Thin Films of Sphere-forming Diblock Copolymers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Shengxiang; Nagpal, Umang; Liao, Wen; de Pablo, Juan; Nealey, Paul

    2010-03-01

    In sphere-forming diblock copolymers, periodic arrays of spheres are arranged in a body-centred cubic (BCC) lattice structure in bulk. However, in thin films different surface morphologies were observed as a function of the film thickness, and the transition from the hexagonal array to the BCC (110) arrangement of spheres on film surfaces was located with respect to the increase of the film thickness. Here we report the first direct observation of the BCC (100) plane in thin films of poly (styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymers on homogeneous substrates. By balancing the surface energies of both blocks, the lower energy BCC (100) plane corresponding to a square arrangement of half spheres, formed on film surfaces when the film thickness was commensurate with the spacing, L100, between (100) planes or greater than 2 L100. A hexagonal arrangement of spheres was only observed when the thickness was less than 2 L100 and incommensurate with 1 L100. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation confirmed our experimental observation and was used to investigate the transition of the arrangement of spheres as a function of the film thickness.

  12. Microstructural Analyses of Topopah Spring Tuff from the Large Block Test at Fran Ridge, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, J.J.

    2000-01-01

    Microstructural information (e.g., porosity, pore size distribution, and surface area) of porous media is critical to understanding water transport mechanisms and physical properties and their bearing on geophysical measurements. We report microstructural data obtained by mercury injection porosimetry (MIP) on 33 samples of densely welded Topopah Spring tuff from Fran Ridge, Yucca Mountain, Nevada Test Site (NTS), Nevada. The characterization of these samples is also important for the interpretation and analysis of the Large Block Test (LBT) performed in support of the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). This report includes previously published data on samples from the same location (Roberts and Lin, 1996). We also present information from the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (YMSCP/LLNL) Large Block Test Engineering Plan (Wilder, 1995) to allow correlation of our data directly to various planes within the Large Block

  13. Analysis of Block OMP using Block RIP

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Jun; Li, Gang; Zhang, Hao; Wang, Xiqin

    2011-01-01

    Orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) is a canonical greedy algorithm for sparse signal reconstruction. When the signal of interest is block sparse, i.e., it has nonzero coefficients occurring in clusters, the block version of OMP algorithm (i.e., Block OMP) outperforms the conventional OMP. In this paper, we demonstrate that a new notion of block restricted isometry property (Block RIP), which is less stringent than standard restricted isometry property (RIP), can be used for a very straightforw...

  14. Gravitational Couplings for y-Gop-Planes

    OpenAIRE

    Giraldo, Juan Fernando Ospina

    2000-01-01

    The Wess-Zumino action for y deformed and generalized orientifold planes (yGOp-planes) is presented and one power expantion is realized from which processes that involves yGOp-planes, RR-forms, gravitons and gaugeons, are obtained. Finally non-standard yGOp-planes are showed.

  15. Transformational plane geometry

    CERN Document Server

    Umble, Ronald N

    2014-01-01

    Axioms of Euclidean Plane Geometry The Existence and Incidence Postulates The Distance and Ruler Postulates The Plane Separation Postulate The Protractor Postulate The Side-Angle-Side Postulate and the Euclidean Parallel Postulate Theorems of Euclidean Plane Geometry The Exterior Angle Theorem Triangle Congruence Theorems The Alternate Interior Angles Theorem and the Angle Sum Theorem Similar Triangles Introduction to Transformations, Isometries, and Similarities Transformations Isometries and SimilaritiesAppendix: Proof of Surjectivity Translations, Rotations, and Reflections Translations Rotations Reflections Appendix: Geometer's Sketchpad Commands Required by Exploratory Activities Compositions of Translations, Rotations, and Reflections The Three Points Theorem Rotations as Compositions of Two Reflections Translations as Compositions of Two Halfturns or Two Reflections The Angle Addition Theorem Glide Reflections Classification of Isometries The Fundamental Theorem and Congruence Classification of Isometr...

  16. 31 CFR 595.301 - Blocked account; blocked property.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... (Continued) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY TERRORISM SANCTIONS REGULATIONS General Definitions § 595.301 Blocked account; blocked property. The terms blocked account and blocked...

  17. Nerve Blocks

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Nerve Blocks A nerve block is an injection to ... the limitations of Nerve Block? What is a Nerve Block? A nerve block is an anesthetic and/ ...

  18. STUDY OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LINGULA AND MANDIBULAR OCCLUSAL PLANE IN IRANIAN MALES WITH NORMAL OCCLUSION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M GHOREYSHIAN

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Pain and the need for controlling it is a determinant factor in dental treatment procedures. One of the most common methods of local anesthesia in mandibular area is infra alveolar nerve block which has failure rate of 5% to 15%. The purpose of this study was to locate the optimal needle entrance point in order to achieve a fast, deep and durable anesthesia with minimal anesthetic consumption. Methods. This cross-sectional study has been performed on 38 cadavers of Iranian males with approximate age of more than 17 years. old. They had normal occlusion and at least 2 molars in each quadrant of the mandible if a sample was edentulous in one quadrant of the mandible or in the opposite jaw; or when a severe tilt in mandi bular dentition was present and in the case of mandibular or condylar fracture, the sample was excluded from the study. Distance between lingual and occlusal plane was measured by a device with two parallel plates. The precision of the measurment was 1mm. Data was analysed by the use of SPSS software. Results. On the right side, the average distance between lingual and occlusal plane was 2.4 ± 4.4 (Mean ± SD and on the left side, was 2:r.4.4 which there was no significant difference between right and left sides (P value=0.9. Discussion. In this study the human body is used and the best point for entrance of the needle for inferior alveolar nerve block technique is located at 8mm above the occlusal plane. At this point the anesthetic solution will be evacuated in the nearest position to the inferior alveolar never.

  19. An introduction to finite projective planes

    CERN Document Server

    Albert, Abraham Adrian

    2015-01-01

    Geared toward both beginning and advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this self-contained treatment offers an elementary approach to finite projective planes. Following a review of the basics of projective geometry, the text examines finite planes, field planes, and coordinates in an arbitrary plane. Additional topics include central collineations and the little Desargues' property, the fundamental theorem, and examples of finite non-Desarguesian planes.Virtually no knowledge or sophistication on the part of the student is assumed, and every algebraic system that arises is defined and

  20. Mobility-Aware Modeling and Analysis of Dense Cellular Networks With $C$ -Plane/ $U$ -Plane Split Architecture

    KAUST Repository

    Ibrahim, Hazem

    2016-09-19

    The unrelenting increase in the population of mobile users and their traffic demands drive cellular network operators to densify their network infrastructure. Network densification shrinks the footprint of base stations (BSs) and reduces the number of users associated with each BS, leading to an improved spatial frequency reuse and spectral efficiency, and thus, higher network capacity. However, the densification gain comes at the expense of higher handover rates and network control overhead. Hence, user’s mobility can diminish or even nullifies the foreseen densification gain. In this context, splitting the control plane ( C -plane) and user plane ( U -plane) is proposed as a potential solution to harvest densification gain with reduced cost in terms of handover rate and network control overhead. In this paper, we use stochastic geometry to develop a tractable mobility-aware model for a two-tier downlink cellular network with ultra-dense small cells and C -plane/ U -plane split architecture. The developed model is then used to quantify the effect of mobility on the foreseen densification gain with and without C -plane/ U -plane split. To this end, we shed light on the handover problem in dense cellular environments, show scenarios where the network fails to support certain mobility profiles, and obtain network design insights.

  1. Testing block subdivision algorithms on block designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiseman, Natalie; Patterson, Zachary

    2016-01-01

    Integrated land use-transportation models predict future transportation demand taking into account how households and firms arrange themselves partly as a function of the transportation system. Recent integrated models require parcels as inputs and produce household and employment predictions at the parcel scale. Block subdivision algorithms automatically generate parcel patterns within blocks. Evaluating block subdivision algorithms is done by way of generating parcels and comparing them to those in a parcel database. Three block subdivision algorithms are evaluated on how closely they reproduce parcels of different block types found in a parcel database from Montreal, Canada. While the authors who developed each of the algorithms have evaluated them, they have used their own metrics and block types to evaluate their own algorithms. This makes it difficult to compare their strengths and weaknesses. The contribution of this paper is in resolving this difficulty with the aim of finding a better algorithm suited to subdividing each block type. The proposed hypothesis is that given the different approaches that block subdivision algorithms take, it's likely that different algorithms are better adapted to subdividing different block types. To test this, a standardized block type classification is used that consists of mutually exclusive and comprehensive categories. A statistical method is used for finding a better algorithm and the probability it will perform well for a given block type. Results suggest the oriented bounding box algorithm performs better for warped non-uniform sites, as well as gridiron and fragmented uniform sites. It also produces more similar parcel areas and widths. The Generalized Parcel Divider 1 algorithm performs better for gridiron non-uniform sites. The Straight Skeleton algorithm performs better for loop and lollipop networks as well as fragmented non-uniform and warped uniform sites. It also produces more similar parcel shapes and patterns.

  2. Cephalomteric changes in airway dimensions with twin block therapy in growing Class II patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinoth, Santhana Krishnan; Thomas, Ashwin Varghese; Nethravathy, Ramya

    2013-01-01

    Introduction: Myofunctional appliances are commonly used for correction of skeletal Class II malrelationship. These appliances influence craniofacial and nasopharyngeal dimensions. Objectives: The present study was done to evaluate changes in airway with twin block therapy. Materials and Methods: Cephalometric assessment of airway was done in 25 growing children in the age group of 11-13 years with Class II skeletal pattern. All the patients were treated with twin block appliance. Pre and post treatment lateral cephalograms were taken to evaluate the changes in different airway and craniofacial dimensions during the treatment period. The average treatment duration was 14.5 months. Results: Airway: A significant increase was observed in upper and lower pharyngeal width and area of bony nasopharynx. Craniofacial dimension: There was a significant increase in effective mandibular length, ramal length and mandibular plane angle. There was an increase in SNB angle, which resulted in decreased ANB angle. Conclusion: There was a definite improvement in airway dimension following twin block therapy PMID:23946570

  3. Basic design of shield blocks for a spallation neutron source under the high-intensity proton accelerator project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshida, Katsuhiko; Maekawa, Fujio; Takada, Hiroshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

    2003-03-01

    Under the JAERI-KEK High-Intensity Proton Accelerator Project (J-PARC), a spallation neutron source driven by a 3 GeV-1 MW proton beam is planed to be constructed as a main part of the Materials and Life Science Facility. Overall dimensions of a biological shield of the neutron source had been determined by evaluation of shielding performance by Monte Carlo calculations. This report describes results of design studies on an optimum dividing scheme in terms of cost and treatment and mechanical strength of shield blocks for the biological shield. As for mechanical strength, it was studied whether the shield blocks would be stable, fall down or move to a horizontal direction in case of an earthquake of seismic intensity of 5.5 (250 Gal) as an abnormal load. For ceiling shielding blocks being supported by both ends of the long blocks, maximum bending moment and an amount of maximum deflection of their center were evaluated. (author)

  4. Basic design of shield blocks for a spallation neutron source under the high-intensity proton accelerator project

    CERN Document Server

    Yoshida, K; Takada, H

    2003-01-01

    Under the JAERI-KEK High-Intensity Proton Accelerator Project (J-PARC), a spallation neutron source driven by a 3 GeV-1 MW proton beam is planed to be constructed as a main part of the Materials and Life Science Facility. Overall dimensions of a biological shield of the neutron source had been determined by evaluation of shielding performance by Monte Carlo calculations. This report describes results of design studies on an optimum dividing scheme in terms of cost and treatment and mechanical strength of shield blocks for the biological shield. As for mechanical strength, it was studied whether the shield blocks would be stable, fall down or move to a horizontal direction in case of an earthquake of seismic intensity of 5.5 (250 Gal) as an abnormal load. For ceiling shielding blocks being supported by both ends of the long blocks, maximum bending moment and an amount of maximum deflection of their center were evaluated.

  5. Fourier plane imaging microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dominguez, Daniel, E-mail: daniel.dominguez@ttu.edu; Peralta, Luis Grave de [Department of Physics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409 (United States); Nano Tech Center, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409 (United States); Alharbi, Nouf; Alhusain, Mdhaoui [Department of Physics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409 (United States); Bernussi, Ayrton A. [Nano Tech Center, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409 (United States); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409 (United States)

    2014-09-14

    We show how the image of an unresolved photonic crystal can be reconstructed using a single Fourier plane (FP) image obtained with a second camera that was added to a traditional compound microscope. We discuss how Fourier plane imaging microscopy is an application of a remarkable property of the obtained FP images: they contain more information about the photonic crystals than the images recorded by the camera commonly placed at the real plane of the microscope. We argue that the experimental results support the hypothesis that surface waves, contributing to enhanced resolution abilities, were optically excited in the studied photonic crystals.

  6. Systems considerations in mosaic focal planes

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, K. P., III

    1983-08-01

    Two key reasons for pursuing the development of mosaic focal planes are reviewed and it is shown that rapid frame repetition rate is the only requirement that can be solved no other way than through mosaic focal planes. With the view that spaceborne mosaic focal plane sensors are necessarily 'smart sensors' requiring a lot of onboard processing just to function, it is pointed out that various artificial intelligence techniques may be the most appropriate to incorporate in the data processing. Finally, a novel mosaic focal plane design is proposed, termed a virtual mosaic focal plane, in response to other system constraints.

  7. Estimates of plastic loads for pipe bends under combined in-plane and out-of-plane bending moment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Nak Hyun; Oh, Chang Sik; Kim, Yun Jae

    2008-01-01

    This paper provides a method to estimate plastic loads (defined by twice-elastic-slope) for pipe bends under combined in-plane and out-of-plane bending moment, based on detailed 3-D FE limit analyses using elastic-perfectly plastic materials. Because closing bending moment is always lower than opening bending moment, the combination of in-plane closing bending and out-of-plane bending moment becomes the most significant case. Due to conservatism of each bending moments, the resultant moment provided by ASME B and PV code is unduly conservative. However, the concept of the resultant moment is still valid. In this paper, FE results show that the accurate solutions of bending moments provide better estimates of plastic loads of pipe bend under combined in-plane bending and out-of-plane bending moment

  8. NUMERICAL DERIVATIONS OF A MACROSCOPIC MODEL FOR REINFORCED CONCRETE WALLS CONSIDERING IN-PLANE AND OUT-OF-PLANE BEHAVIOR

    OpenAIRE

    LATCHAROTE; Panon KAI, Yoshiro

    2015-01-01

    A macroscopic model, macro plate model, was proposed to represent a wall member of RC walls. Both in-plane and out-of-plane behavior were considered for numerical derivations of macro plate model. For out-of-plane behavior, bending deformation was incorporated with shear deformation to consider out-of-plane deformation as same as in-plane behavior. The hysteretic behavior of macro plate model can be directly expressed by stress-strain relationships in any conventional hysteretic rules, which ...

  9. 31 CFR 594.301 - Blocked account; blocked property.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... (Continued) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY GLOBAL TERRORISM SANCTIONS REGULATIONS General Definitions § 594.301 Blocked account; blocked property. The terms blocked account and...

  10. Efficient Closed Form Cut-Off Planes and Propagation Planes Characteristics for Dielectric Slab Loaded Boundary Value Problems

    OpenAIRE

    Zafar, Junaid

    2012-01-01

    The geometrical relationship between the cut-off and propagating planes of any waveguide system is a prerequisite for any design process. The characterization of cut-off planes and optimisation are challenging for numerical methods, closed-form solutions are always preferred. In this paper Maxwells coupled field equations are used to characterise twin E-plane and H-plane slab loaded boundary value problems. The single mode bandwidths and dispersion characteristics of these structures are pres...

  11. Generating asymptotically plane wave spacetimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hubeny, Veronika E.; Rangamani, Mukund

    2003-01-01

    In an attempt to study asymptotically plane wave spacetimes which admit an event horizon, we find solutions to vacuum Einstein's equations in arbitrary dimension which have a globally null Killing field and rotational symmetry. We show that while such solutions can be deformed to include ones which are asymptotically plane wave, they do not posses a regular event horizon. If we allow for additional matter, such as in supergravity theories, we show that it is possible to have extremal solutions with globally null Killing field, a regular horizon, and which, in addition, are asymptotically plane wave. In particular, we deform the extremal M2-brane solution in 11-dimensional supergravity so that it behaves asymptotically as a 10-dimensional vacuum plane wave times a real line. (author)

  12. Semantic Versus Syntactic Cutting Planes

    OpenAIRE

    Filmus, Yuval; Hrubeš, Pavel; Lauria, Massimo

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we compare the strength of the semantic and syntactic version of the cutting planes proof system. First, we show that the lower bound technique of Pudlák applies also to semantic cutting planes: the proof system has feasible interpolation via monotone real circuits, which gives an exponential lower bound on lengths of semantic cutting planes refutations. Second, we show that semantic refutations are stronger than syntactic ones. In particular, we give a formula for whic...

  13. ["Habitual" left branch block alternating with 2 "disguised" bracnch block].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lévy, S; Jullien, G; Mathieu, P; Mostefa, S; Gérard, R

    1976-10-01

    Two cases of alternating left bundle branch block and "masquerading block" (with left bundle branch morphology in the stnadard leads and right bundle branch block morphology in the precordial leads) were studied by serial tracings and his bundle electrocardiography. In case 1 "the masquerading" block was associated with a first degree AV block related to a prolongation of HV interval. This case is to our knowledge the first cas of alternating bundle branch block in which his bundle activity was recorded in man. In case 2, the patient had atrial fibrilation and His bundle recordings were performed while differents degrees of left bundle branch block were present: The mechanism of the alternation and the concept of "masquerading" block are discussed. It is suggested that this type of block represents a right bundle branch block associated with severe lesions of the "left system".

  14. Evaluation of uterine peristalsis using cine MRI on the coronal plane in comparison with the sagittal plane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shitano, Fuki; Kido, Aki; Kataoka, Masako; Fujimoto, Koji; Kiguchi, Kayo; Fushimi, Yasutaka; Togashi, Kaori

    2016-01-01

    Uterine peristalsis is supposed to be closely related to the early stages of reproduction. Sperms are preferentially transported from the uterine cervix to the side of the tube with the dominant follicle. However, with respect to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), uterine peristalsis has only been evaluated at the sagittal plane of cine MRI. To evaluate and compare uterine peristalsis both on sagittal and coronal planes using cine MRI. Internal ethics committee approval was obtained, and subjects provided informed written consent. Thirty-one women underwent MRI scans in the periovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle. Cine MR images obtained by fast advanced spin echo sequence at 3-T field strength magnet (Toshiba Medical Systems) were visually evaluated by two independent radiologists. The frequency and the direction of peristalsis, and the presence of outer myometrium conduction of signal intensities (OMC), were evaluated. The laterality of the dominant follicle was determined on axial images and compared with the peristaltic direction in fundus. The subjects in which peristaltic directions were more clearly recognized were significantly frequent in coronal planes than in sagittal planes (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the peristaltic frequency between the sagittal and the coronal plane. However, the OMC was more recognized in the coronal plane than in the sagittal plane (P < 0.05). Peristaltic waves conducted toward the possible ovulation side were observed in only three of the 10 subjects. OMC of uterine peristalsis was better demonstrated in the coronal plane compared to the sagittal plane. © The Foundation Acta Radiologica 2015.

  15. On the determination of general plane stress states in orthotropic materials from ultrasonic velocity data in non symmetry planes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goncalves Filho, Orlando J.A.

    2015-01-01

    This work reports the progress in the development of a new experimental protocol for plane stress determination in orthotropic materials based on the ultrasonic velocity of bulk waves propagating in non symmetry planes with oblique incidence. The presence of stress-induced deformation introduces an acoustic anisotropy in the material in addition to that defined by its texture. Orthotropic materials under general plane stress states become acoustically monoclic and its orthotropic planes orthogonal to the stress plane become non symmetry planes. The inverse solution of the generalized Christoffel equation for ultrasonic bulk waves propagating in non symmetry planes of anisotropic bodies is known to be numerically unstable. The suggested protocol deals with this numerical instability without recourse to bulk wave propagation in the stress plane as proposed in the literature. Hence, it should be useful for plane stress analysis of thin wall pressure vessels where ultrasonic measurements in the direction of the wall plane are not possible. For the initial validation of the suggested protocol and verification of the stability of the inversion algorithm, computer simulation of stress determination have been performed from synthetic sets of velocity data obtained by the forward solution of the generalized Christoffel equation. Preliminary results for slightly orthotropic aluminium highlight the potential of the suggested protocol. (author)

  16. Lower incisor inclination regarding different reference planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zataráin, Brenda; Avila, Josué; Moyaho, Angeles; Carrasco, Rosendo; Velasco, Carmen

    2016-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of lower incisor inclination with respect to different reference planes. It was an observational, analytical, longitudinal, prospective study conducted on 100 lateral cephalograms which were corrected according to the photograph in natural head position in order to draw the true vertical plane (TVP). The incisor mandibular plane angle (IMPA) was compensated to eliminate the variation of the mandibular plane growth type with the formula "FMApx.- 25 (FMA) + IMPApx. = compensated IMPA (IMPACOM)". As the data followed normal distribution determined by the KolmogorovSmirnov test, parametric tests were used for the statistical analysis, Ttest, ANOVA and Pearson coefficient correlation test. Statistical analysis was performed using a statistical significance of p planes. There were statistically significant differences among the means of the planes measured, except for IMPACOM, FMIA and TVP. The IMPA differed significantly from the IMPACOM. The compensated IMPA and the FMIA did not differ significantly from the TVP. The true horizontal plane was mismatched with Frankfort plane in 84% of the sample with a range of 19°. The true vertical plane is adequate for measuring lower incisor inclination. Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Odontológica.

  17. The position of the occlusal plane in natural and artificial dentitions as related to other craniofacial planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Quran, Firas A M; Hazza'a, Abdalla; Al Nahass, Nabeel

    2010-12-01

    This study aimed at determining the most reliable ala-tragus line as a guide for the orientation of the occlusal plane in complete denture patients by use of cephalometric landmarks on dentate volunteers. Analysis was made for prosthodontically related craniofacial reference lines and angles of lateral cephalometric radiographs taken for 47 dentate adults. Variables were determined and data were analyzed using SPSS (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). Occlusal plane angle formed between the occlusal plane and Camper's plane had the lowest mean value in the angle formed with Camper's I, which represents the measure taken from the superior border of the tragus of the ear with a score of 2.1°. The highest was measured in the angle formed with Camper's III with a score of 6.1°, while the angle formed with Camper's II was 3.2°. The differences between the three planes in relation to the occlusal plane was significant (p < 0.001). The superior border of the tragus with the inferior border of the ala of the nose was most accurate in orienting the occlusal plane. © 2010 by The American College of Prosthodontists.

  18. E-Block: A Tangible Programming Tool with Graphical Blocks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danli Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper designs a tangible programming tool, E-Block, for children aged 5 to 9 to experience the preliminary understanding of programming by building blocks. With embedded artificial intelligence, the tool defines the programming blocks with the sensors as the input and enables children to write programs to complete the tasks in the computer. The symbol on the programming block's surface is used to help children understanding the function of each block. The sequence information is transferred to computer by microcomputers and then translated into semantic information. The system applies wireless and infrared technologies and provides user with feedbacks on both screen and programming blocks. Preliminary user studies using observation and user interview methods are shown for E-Block's prototype. The test results prove that E-Block is attractive to children and easy to learn and use. The project also highlights potential advantages of using single chip microcomputer (SCM technology to develop tangible programming tools for children.

  19. A 3D Analysis of Rock Block Deformation and Failure Mechanics Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Emily; Hutchinson, D. Jean; Kromer, Ryan A.; Edwards, Tom

    2017-04-01

    planes on the slope that were confining the block. It is concluded that rock blocks in White Canyon may be classified as one of five main failure mechanisms based on their pre-failure deformation and structure: planar slide, topple, rotation, wedge, and overhang, with overhang failures representing a large portion of rockfalls in this area. Overhang rockfalls in the White Canyon are characterized by blocks that (a) are not supported by an underlying discontinuity plane, and (b) generally do not exhibit pre-failure deformation. Though overhanging rock blocks are a structural subset of toppling failure, their behavior suggests a different mechanism of detachment. Future work will further populate the present database of rockfalls in White Canyon and will expand the study to include other sites along this corridor. The ultimate goal of this research is to establish warning thresholds based on deformation magnitudes for rockfalls in White Canyon to assist Canadian railways in better understanding and managing these slopes.

  20. Study the Z-Plane Strip Capacitance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parikh, H.; Swain, S.

    2005-01-01

    The BaBaR detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is currently undergoing an upgrade to improve its muon and neutral hadron detection system. The Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) that had been used till now have deteriorated in performance over the past few years and are being replaced by Limited Streamer Tube (LSTs). Each layer of the system consists of a set of up to 10 streamer tube modules which provide one coordinate (φ coordinate) and a single ''Z-plane'' which provides the Z coordinate of the hit. The large area Z-planes (up to 12m 2 ) are 1mm thick and contain 96 copper strips that detect the induced charge from avalanches created in the streamer tube wires. All the Z-planes needed for the upgrade have already been constructed, but only a third of the planes were installed last summer. After installing the 24 Z-planes last year, it was learned that 0.7% of the strips were dead when put inside the detector. This was mainly due to the delicate solder joint between the read-out cable and the strip, and since it is difficult to access or replace the Z-planes inside the detector, it is very important to perform various tests to make sure that the Z-planes will be efficient and effective in the long term. We measure the capacitance between the copper strips and the ground plane, and compare it to the theoretical value that we expect. Instead of measuring the capacitance channel by channel, which would be a very tedious job, we developed a more effective method of measuring the capacitance. Since all the Z-planes were built at SLAC, we also built a smaller 46 cm by 30 cm Z-plane with 12 strips just to see how they were constructed and to gain a better understanding about the solder joints

  1. E-Block: A Tangible Programming Tool with Graphical Blocks

    OpenAIRE

    Danli Wang; Yang Zhang; Shengyong Chen

    2013-01-01

    This paper designs a tangible programming tool, E-Block, for children aged 5 to 9 to experience the preliminary understanding of programming by building blocks. With embedded artificial intelligence, the tool defines the programming blocks with the sensors as the input and enables children to write programs to complete the tasks in the computer. The symbol on the programming block's surface is used to help children understanding the function of each block. The sequence information is transfer...

  2. ABINIT: Plane-Wave-Based Density-Functional Theory on High Performance Computers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torrent, Marc

    2014-03-01

    For several years, a continuous effort has been produced to adapt electronic structure codes based on Density-Functional Theory to the future computing architectures. Among these codes, ABINIT is based on a plane-wave description of the wave functions which allows to treat systems of any kind. Porting such a code on petascale architectures pose difficulties related to the many-body nature of the DFT equations. To improve the performances of ABINIT - especially for what concerns standard LDA/GGA ground-state and response-function calculations - several strategies have been followed: A full multi-level parallelisation MPI scheme has been implemented, exploiting all possible levels and distributing both computation and memory. It allows to increase the number of distributed processes and could not be achieved without a strong restructuring of the code. The core algorithm used to solve the eigen problem (``Locally Optimal Blocked Congugate Gradient''), a Blocked-Davidson-like algorithm, is based on a distribution of processes combining plane-waves and bands. In addition to the distributed memory parallelization, a full hybrid scheme has been implemented, using standard shared-memory directives (openMP/openACC) or porting some comsuming code sections to Graphics Processing Units (GPU). As no simple performance model exists, the complexity of use has been increased; the code efficiency strongly depends on the distribution of processes among the numerous levels. ABINIT is able to predict the performances of several process distributions and automatically choose the most favourable one. On the other hand, a big effort has been carried out to analyse the performances of the code on petascale architectures, showing which sections of codes have to be improved; they all are related to Matrix Algebra (diagonalisation, orthogonalisation). The different strategies employed to improve the code scalability will be described. They are based on an exploration of new diagonalization

  3. Morphology and Surface Energy of a Si Containing Semifluorinated Di-block Copolymer Thin Films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrestha, Umesh; Clarson, Stephen; Perahia, Dvora

    2013-03-01

    The structure and composition of an interface influence stability, adhesiveness and response to external stimuli of thin polymeric films. Incorporation of fluorine affects interfacial energy as well as thermal and chemical stability of the layers. The incompatibility between the fluorinated and non-fluorinated blocks induces segregation that leads to long range correlations where the tendency of the fluorine to migrate to interfaces impacts the surface tension of the films. Concurrently Si in a polymeric backbone enhances the flexibility of polymeric chains. Our previous studies of poly trifluoro propyl methyl siloxane-polystyrene thin films with SiF fraction 0.03-0.5 as a function of temperature have shown that the SiF block drives layering parallel to the surface of the diblock. Here in we report the structure and interfacial energies of SiF-PS in the plane of the films, as a function of the volume fraction of the SiF block obtained from Atomic Force microscopy and contact angle measurement studies. This work is supported by NSF DMR - 0907390

  4. Minimum Effective Volume of Lidocaine for Ultrasound-Guided Costoclavicular Block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sotthisopha, Thitipan; Elgueta, Maria Francisca; Samerchua, Artid; Leurcharusmee, Prangmalee; Tiyaprasertkul, Worakamol; Gordon, Aida; Finlayson, Roderick J; Tran, De Q

    This dose-finding study aimed to determine the minimum effective volume in 90% of patients (MEV90) of lidocaine 1.5% with epinephrine 5 μg/mL for ultrasound-guided costoclavicular block. Using an in-plane technique and a lateral-to-medial direction, the block needle was positioned in the middle of the 3 cords of the brachial plexus in the costoclavicular space. The entire volume of lidocaine was deposited in this location. Dose assignment was carried out using a biased-coin-design up-and-down sequential method, where the total volume of local anesthetic administered to each patient depended on the response of the previous one. In case of failure, the next subject received a higher volume (defined as the previous volume with an increment of 2.5 mL). If the previous patient had a successful block, the next subject was randomized to a lower volume (defined as the previous volume with a decrement of 2.5 mL), with a probability of b = 0.11, or the same volume, with a probability of 1 - b = 0.89. Success was defined, at 30 minutes, as a minimal score of 14 of 16 points using a sensorimotor composite scale. Patients undergoing surgery of the elbow, forearm, wrist, or hand were prospectively enrolled until 45 successful blocks were obtained. This clinical trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (ID NCT02932670). Fifty-seven patients were included in the study. Using isotonic regression and bootstrap confidence interval, the MEV90 for ultrasound-guided costoclavicular block was estimated to be 34.0 mL (95% confidence interval, 33.4-34.4 mL). All patients with a minimal composite score of 14 points at 30 minutes achieved surgical anesthesia intraoperatively. For ultrasound-guided costoclavicular block, the MEV90 of lidocaine 1.5% with epinephrine 5 μg/mL is 34 mL. Further dose-finding studies are required for other concentrations of lidocaine, other local anesthetic agents, and multiple-injection techniques.

  5. Coherent field propagation between tilted planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stock, Johannes; Worku, Norman Girma; Gross, Herbert

    2017-10-01

    Propagating electromagnetic light fields between nonparallel planes is of special importance, e.g., within the design of novel computer-generated holograms or the simulation of optical systems. In contrast to the extensively discussed evaluation between parallel planes, the diffraction-based propagation of light onto a tilted plane is more burdensome, since discrete fast Fourier transforms cannot be applied directly. In this work, we propose a quasi-fast algorithm (O(N 3  log N)) that deals with this problem. Based on a proper decomposition into three rotations, the vectorial field distribution is calculated on a tilted plane using the spectrum of plane waves. The algorithm works on equidistant grids, so neither nonuniform Fourier transforms nor an explicit complex interpolation is necessary. The proposed algorithm is discussed in detail and applied to several examples of practical interest.

  6. A multiscale asymptotic analysis of time evolution equations on the complex plane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braga, Gastão A., E-mail: gbraga@mat.ufmg.br [Departamento de Matemática, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 702, 30161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Conti, William R. P., E-mail: wrpconti@gmail.com [Departamento de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Dr. Carvalho de Mendonça 144, 11070-100 Santos, SP (Brazil)

    2016-07-15

    Using an appropriate norm on the space of entire functions, we extend to the complex plane the renormalization group method as developed by Bricmont et al. The method is based upon a multiscale approach that allows for a detailed description of the long time asymptotics of solutions to initial value problems. The time evolution equation considered here arises in the study of iterations of the block spin renormalization group transformation for the hierarchical N-vector model. We show that, for initial conditions belonging to a certain Fréchet space of entire functions of exponential type, the asymptotics is universal in the sense that it is dictated by the fixed point of a certain operator acting on the space of initial conditions.

  7. Materials, devices, techniques, and applications for Z-plane focal plane array technology; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Mar. 29, 30, 1989

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carson, John C.

    1989-09-01

    The papers contained in this volume focus on the implementation and application of Z-plane focal array technology. Topics discussed include civil and military applications of Z-plane technology, electronic design and technology for on-scale plane signal processing, detector development and fabrication technology, and Z-plane module development and producibility. Papers are presented on future capabilities of Z-plane technology, comparison of planar and Z-plane focal plane technologies for dim target detection, Z-plane modules as target extraction engines, and high complexity tape automated bonding application for space hardware.

  8. On the necessity of connection between plane and curve space metrics in gravity theory on a plane background

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vlasov, A.A.

    1988-01-01

    The necessity of covariant connection of plane space metrics in the gravity theory ''on a plane background'' is underlined. It is shown that this connection in the relativistic gravity theory results in its difference from the general relativity theory ''on a plane background''

  9. Open Cluster Dynamics via Fundamental Plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chien-Cheng; Pang, Xiao-Ying

    2018-04-01

    Open clusters (OCs) are important objects for stellar dynamics studies. The short survival timescale of OCs makes them closely related to the formation of Galactic field stars. We motivate to investigate the dynamical evolution of OCs on the aspect of internal effect and the external influence. Firstly, we make use of the known OC catalog to obtain OCs masses, effective radii. Additionally, we estimate OCs kinematics properties by OC members cross-matched with radial velocity and metallicity from SDSSIV/APOGEE2. We then establish the fundamental plane of OCs based on the radial velocity dispersion, the effective radius, and average surface brightness. The deviation of the fundamental plane from the Virial Plane, so called the tilt, and the r.m.s. dispersion of OCs around the average plane are used to indicate the dynamical status of OCs. Parameters of the fitted plane will vary with cluster age and distance.

  10. Plane-wave least-squares reverse-time migration

    KAUST Repository

    Dai, Wei

    2013-06-03

    A plane-wave least-squares reverse-time migration (LSRTM) is formulated with a new parameterization, where the migration image of each shot gather is updated separately and an ensemble of prestack images is produced along with common image gathers. The merits of plane-wave prestack LSRTM are the following: (1) plane-wave prestack LSRTM can sometimes offer stable convergence even when the migration velocity has bulk errors of up to 5%; (2) to significantly reduce computation cost, linear phase-shift encoding is applied to hundreds of shot gathers to produce dozens of plane waves. Unlike phase-shift encoding with random time shifts applied to each shot gather, plane-wave encoding can be effectively applied to data with a marine streamer geometry. (3) Plane-wave prestack LSRTM can provide higher-quality images than standard reverse-time migration. Numerical tests on the Marmousi2 model and a marine field data set are performed to illustrate the benefits of plane-wave LSRTM. Empirical results show that LSRTM in the plane-wave domain, compared to standard reversetime migration, produces images efficiently with fewer artifacts and better spatial resolution. Moreover, the prestack image ensemble accommodates more unknowns to makes it more robust than conventional least-squares migration in the presence of migration velocity errors. © 2013 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

  11. Slip patterns and preferred dislocation boundary planes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Winther, G.

    2003-01-01

    The planes of deformation induced extended planar dislocation boundaries are analysed in two different co-ordinate systems, namely the macroscopic system defined by the deformation axes and the crystallographic system given by the crystallographic lattice. The analysis covers single and polycryst......The planes of deformation induced extended planar dislocation boundaries are analysed in two different co-ordinate systems, namely the macroscopic system defined by the deformation axes and the crystallographic system given by the crystallographic lattice. The analysis covers single...... and polycrystals of fcc metals in three deformation modes (rolling, tension and torsion). In the macroscopic system, boundaries lie close to the macroscopically most stressed planes. In the crystallographic system, the boundary plane depends on the grain/crystal orientation. The boundary planes in both co......-ordinate systems are rationalised based on the slip. The more the slip is concentrated on a slip plane, the closer the boundaries lie to this. The macroscopic preference arises from the macroscopic directionality of the slip. The established relations are applied to (a) prediction of boundary planes from slip...

  12. Fast Plane Wave Imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jonas

    This PhD project investigates and further develops methods for ultrasound plane wave imaging and blood flow estimation with the objective of overcoming some of the major limitations in conventional ultrasound systems, which are related to low frame rates and only estimation of velocities along...... the ultrasound beam. The first part of the contribution investigates the compromise between frame rate and plane wave image quality including the influence of grating lobes from a λ-pitch transducer. A method for optimizing the image quality is suggested, and it is shown that the frame rate can be increased...... healthy volunteers. Complex flow patterns were measured in an anthropomorphic flow phantom and showed good agreement with the velocity field simulated using computational fluid dynamics. The last part of the contribution investigates two clinical applications. Plane wave imaging was used for slow velocity...

  13. Poly(ferrocenylsilane)-block-Polylactide Block Copolymers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roerdink, M.; van Zanten, Thomas S.; Hempenius, Mark A.; Zhong, Zhiyuan; Feijen, Jan; Vancso, Gyula J.

    2007-01-01

    A PFS/PLA block copolymer was studied to probe the effect of strong surface interactions on pattern formation in PFS block copolymer thin films. Successful synthesis of PFS-b-PLA was demonstrated. Thin films of these polymers show phase separation to form PFS microdomains in a PLA matrix, and

  14. Evaluation of planar 3D electrical capacitance tomography: from single-plane to dual-plane configuration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei, Hsin-Yu; Qiu, Chang-Hua; Soleimani, Manuchehr

    2015-01-01

    Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that is sensitive to the dielectric permittivity property of an object. Conventional ECT systems have a circular/cylindrical or rectangular geometry, in which the electrode plates are usually spaced equally around the tank. It is the most common configuration as it can be easily applied to industrial pipelines. However, under some circumstances, the full access to the imaging geometry may not be applicable due to the limitation of the process area. In those cases, and with limited access, planar ECT sensors can fit the process structure if access to only one side is possible. A single-plane ECT configuration has been proposed for such applications. However, the planar array often suffers from a lack of sensitivity and difficulty with depth detection. To better understand these limitations we investigate the imaging performance from the single-plane ECT to dual-plane ECT structure. The limitations and constraints of the planar configuration will also be discussed. Several experiments were conducted using both single-plane and dual-plane configurations to evaluate the potential applications. The initial results are promising, and the quality of the reconstructed images are compared with the real condition for process validation. (paper)

  15. Guide-Plane Retention in Designing Removable Partial Dentures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mothopi-Peri, Matshediso; Owen, C Peter

    To compare the influence of abutment teeth guide planes and guiding surfaces on retention of a removable partial denture (RPD). Extracted teeth embedded into a maxillary cast in the first premolar and second molar positions simulated two bounded saddles. Acrylic resin RPDs were made with no guide planes, then with guide planes, then with guiding surfaces added to directly contact the guide planes. The maximum loads on removal from the cast were recorded. There was a significant increase in retention force of 1.6 times when only guide planes were present and of 10.2 times when guiding surfaces intimately contacted the guide planes. The retention of acrylic resin RPDs can be substantially increased by making their guiding surfaces intimately contact the guide planes of the teeth.

  16. A Collaborative Knowledge Plane for Autonomic Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbaye, Maïssa; Krief, Francine

    Autonomic networking aims to give network components self-managing capabilities. Several autonomic architectures have been proposed. Each of these architectures includes sort of a knowledge plane which is very important to mimic an autonomic behavior. Knowledge plane has a central role for self-functions by providing suitable knowledge to equipment and needs to learn new strategies for more accuracy.However, defining knowledge plane's architecture is still a challenge for researchers. Specially, defining the way cognitive supports interact each other in knowledge plane and implementing them. Decision making process depends on these interactions between reasoning and learning parts of knowledge plane. In this paper we propose a knowledge plane's architecture based on machine learning (inductive logic programming) paradigm and situated view to deal with distributed environment. This architecture is focused on two self-functions that include all other self-functions: self-adaptation and self-organization. Study cases are given and implemented.

  17. Axillary local anesthetic spread after the thoracic interfacial ultrasound block – a cadaveric and radiological evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Alfaro de la Torre

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: Oral opioid analgesics have been used for management of peri- and postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing axillary dissection. The axillary region is a difficult zone to block and does not have a specific regional anesthesia technique published that offers its adequate blockade. Methods: After institutional review board approval, anatomic and radiological studies were conducted to determine the deposition and spread of methylene blue and local anesthetic injected respectively into the axilla via the thoracic inter-fascial plane. Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies were then conducted in 15 of 34 patients scheduled for unilateral breast surgery that entailed any of the following: axillary clearance, sentinel node biopsy, axillary node biopsy, or supernumerary breasts, to ascertain the deposition and time course of spread of solution within the thoracic interfascial plane in vivo. Results: Radiological and cadaveric studies showed that the injection of local anesthetic and methylene blue via the thoracic inter-fascial plane, using ultrasound guide technique, results in reliable deposition into the axilla. In patients, the injection of the local anesthetic produced a reliable axillary sensory block. This finding was supported by Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies that showed hyper-intense signals in the axillary region. Conclusions: These findings define the anatomic characteristics of the thoracic interfascial plane nerve block in the axillary region, and underline the clinical potential of this novel nerve block. Resumo: Justificativa: Os analgésicos orais à base de opioides têm sido usados para o manejo da analgesia nos períodos peri e pós-operatório de pacientes submetidos à linfadenectomia axilar. A região axilar é uma zona difícil de bloquear e não há registro de uma técnica de anestesia regional específica que ofereça o seu bloqueio adequado. Métodos: Após a aprovação do Conselho de Ética institucional

  18. Defining the origins of electron transfer at screen-printed graphene-like and graphite electrodes: MoO2 nanowire fabrication on edge plane sites reveals electrochemical insights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowley-Neale, Samuel J; Brownson, Dale A C; Banks, Craig E

    2016-08-18

    Molybdenum (di)oxide (MoO2) nanowires are fabricated onto graphene-like and graphite screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) for the first time, revealing crucial insights into the electrochemical properties of carbon/graphitic based materials. Distinctive patterns observed in the electrochemical process of nanowire decoration show that electron transfer occurs predominantly on edge plane sites when utilising SPEs fabricated/comprised of graphitic materials. Nanowire fabrication along the edge plane sites (and on edge plane like-sites/defects) of graphene/graphite is confirmed with Cyclic Voltammetry, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Raman Spectroscopy. Comparison of the heterogeneous electron transfer (HET) rate constants (k°) at unmodified and nanowire coated SPEs show a reduction in the electrochemical reactivity of SPEs when the edge plane sites are effectively blocked/coated with MoO2. Throughout the process, the basal plane sites of the graphene/graphite electrodes remain relatively uncovered; except when the available edge plane sites have been utilised, in which case MoO2 deposition grows from the edge sites covering the entire surface of the electrode. This work clearly illustrates the distinct electron transfer properties of edge and basal plane sites on graphitic materials, indicating favourable electrochemical reactivity at the edge planes in contrast to limited reactivity at the basal plane sites. In addition to providing fundamental insights into the electron transfer properties of graphite and graphene-like SPEs, the reported simple, scalable, and cost effective formation of unique and intriguing MoO2 nanowires realised herein is of significant interest for use in both academic and commercial applications.

  19. Beneficial Effects of Mycorrhizal Fungi on Growth Characteristics and Nutrients Uptake by Plane Tree (Platanus orientalis L, Subjected to Deficit Irrigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Alipour Amraie1

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Plane tree is one of the important trees cultivated in urban landscapes of Iran and often suffers from different nutritional issues including deficiency and toxicity of mineral nutrients. Mycorrhizal fungi have been introduced to increase growth and quality of plants in horticulture. To study the combined effect of two mycorrhizal fungi (G. mosseae and G. intraradices on plane trees, an experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design with 4 treatments and 6 replicates. Treatments included control (without fertilizer, livestock manure, complete fertilizer (20:5:10 and manure + fertilizer + mycorrhizal fungi. Some traits and indices including phosphorus, nitrogen, iron and zinc contents, leaf fresh weight, current year growth and total soluble carbohydrate and chlorophyll contents were evaluated. The results showed the positive effects of manure, fertilizer and mycorrhizal fungi on the plane tree, as these treatments significantly increased all examined parameters except for current year growth. Contents of phosphorus, nitrogen, zinc, iron, chlorophyll and total soluble sugar increased by 400%, 20%, 500%, 34%, 41% and 23%, in mycorrhizal-treated plants, respectively, as compared to the control trees. The results of this study showed a promising effect of the mycorrhizal fungi to be applied along with fertilizer and manure as an appropriate biological fertilizer for plane tree.

  20. Intrathecal opioid versus ultrasound guided fascia iliaca plane block for analgesia after primary hip arthroplasty: study protocol for a randomised, blinded, noninferiority controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kinsella John

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Hip replacement surgery is increasingly common due to an ageing population, and rising levels of obesity. The provision of excellent pain relief with minimal side effects is important in order to facilitate patient mobilisation and rehabilitation. Spinal opioids provide excellent analgesia but are associated with adverse effects. The fascia-iliaca block is an alternative technique which provides analgesia to the nerves innervating the hip. The success of fascia iliaca blocks has been demonstrated to be superior when using ultrasound compared to landmark techniques. However, the clinical benefit of this improvement has yet to be investigated. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of ultrasound guided fascia iliaca block with spinal morphine for hip replacement surgery. Methods/Design This study is a randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled, noninferiority trial. Patients scheduled to undergo unilateral primary hip arthroplasty will receive a study information sheet and consent will be obtained in keeping with the Declaration of Helsinki. Patients will be randomised to receive either; (i Ultrasound guided fascia iliaca block using levobupivacaine, plus spinal anaesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine containing no morphine, or (ii sham ultrasound guided fascia iliaca block performed with sterile saline, and spinal anaesthesia containing hyperbaric bupivacaine and 0.1 mg of spinal morphine. A total of 108 patients will be recruited. Primary outcome is post-operative morphine consumption in a 24 hour period. Secondary outcomes include; pain scores at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours, episodes of respiratory depression, hypotension, nausea and vomiting, pruritus, sedation, time to first mobilisation and patient satisfaction. Conclusions There are no studies to date comparing ultrasound guided fascia iliaca block with spinal morphine for pain control after hip arthroplasty. If the ultrasound guided fascia iliaca

  1. Conceptual Design of Wave Plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frigaard, Peter; Trewers, Andrew; Kofoed, Jens Peter

    The Wave Plane is a patented Wave Energy device of the overtopping type, designed to capture potential as well as kinetic energy. This is as such different to other overtopping devices, who usually only focus on potential energy. If Wave Plane A/S can deliver the turbine technology to utilize both...

  2. Transient facial nerve palsy after occipital nerve block: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strauss, Lauren; Loder, Elizabeth; Rizzoli, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Occipital nerve blocks are commonly performed to treat a variety of headache syndromes and are generally believed to be safe and well tolerated. We report the case of an otherwise healthy 24-year-old woman with left side-locked occipital, parietal, and temporal pain who was diagnosed with probable occipital neuralgia. She developed complete left facial nerve palsy within minutes of blockade of the left greater and lesser occipital nerves with a solution of bupivicaine and triamcinolone. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain with gadolinium contrast showed no abnormalities, and symptoms had completely resolved 4-5 hours later. Unintended spread of the anesthetic solution along tissue planes seems the most likely explanation for this adverse event. An aberrant course of the facial nerve or connections between the facial and occipital nerves also might have played a role, along with the patient's prone position and the use of a relatively large injection volume of a potent anesthetic. Clinicians should be aware that temporary facial nerve palsy is a possible complication of occipital nerve block. © 2014 American Headache Society.

  3. Fermi system with planes and charge reservoir: Anisotropic in-plane resistivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levin, G.A.; Quader, K.F.

    1992-01-01

    The authors explore the normal state in-plane resistivity of a model Fermi system with two planes and a charge reservoir. When the Fermi energy lies near the top of one of the resulting sub-bands, the system can be described by two types of quasiparticle excitations with different energy spectra and relaxation times. They show that for certain stoichiometry, ρ ab is linear in temperature with positive or negative intercepts. A relation between the slopes and intercepts of resistivities in the a and b directions in untwinned crystals is derived. The results are in good agreement with experimental data on YBCO. 7 refs., 1 tab

  4. Block and sub-block boundary strengthening in lath martensite

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Du, C.; Hoefnagels, J.P.M.; Vaes, R.; Geers, M.G.D.

    2016-01-01

    Well-defined uniaxial micro-tensile tests were performed on lath martensite single block specimens and multi-block specimens with different number of block boundaries parallel to the loading direction. Detailed slip trace analyses consistently revealed that in the {110}<111> slip system with the

  5. Work Planing Automation at Mechanical Subdivision

    OpenAIRE

    Dzindzelėta, Vytautas

    2005-01-01

    Work planing automation, installation possibilities and future outlook at mechanical subdivision. To study how the work planing has changed before and after automation process and to analyse automation process methodology.

  6. On the Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of Block Triangular Preconditioned Block Matrices

    KAUST Repository

    Pestana, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    Block lower triangular matrices and block upper triangular matrices are popular preconditioners for 2×2 block matrices. In this note we show that a block lower triangular preconditioner gives the same spectrum as a block upper triangular preconditioner and that the eigenvectors of the two preconditioned matrices are related. © 2014 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

  7. Powder wastes confinement block and manufacturing process of this block

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dagot, L.; Brunel, G.

    1996-01-01

    This invention concerns a powder wastes containment block and a manufacturing process of this block. In this block, the waste powder is encapsulated in a thermo hardening polymer as for example an epoxy resin, the encapsulated resin being spread into cement. This block can contain between 45 and 55% in mass of wastes, between 18 and 36% in mass of polymer and between 14 and 32% in mass of cement. Such a containment block can be used for the radioactive wastes storage. (O.M.). 4 refs

  8. Blocked Randomization with Randomly Selected Block Sizes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jimmy Efird

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available When planning a randomized clinical trial, careful consideration must be given to how participants are selected for various arms of a study. Selection and accidental bias may occur when participants are not assigned to study groups with equal probability. A simple random allocation scheme is a process by which each participant has equal likelihood of being assigned to treatment versus referent groups. However, by chance an unequal number of individuals may be assigned to each arm of the study and thus decrease the power to detect statistically significant differences between groups. Block randomization is a commonly used technique in clinical trial design to reduce bias and achieve balance in the allocation of participants to treatment arms, especially when the sample size is small. This method increases the probability that each arm will contain an equal number of individuals by sequencing participant assignments by block. Yet still, the allocation process may be predictable, for example, when the investigator is not blind and the block size is fixed. This paper provides an overview of blocked randomization and illustrates how to avoid selection bias by using random block sizes.

  9. Population Blocks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Martin H.

    1992-01-01

    Describes an educational game called "Population Blocks" that is designed to illustrate the concept of exponential growth of the human population and some potential effects of overpopulation. The game material consists of wooden blocks; 18 blocks are painted green (representing land), 7 are painted blue (representing water); and the remaining…

  10. In-plane and out-of-plane nonlinear dynamics of an axially moving beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farokhi, Hamed; Ghayesh, Mergen H.; Amabili, Marco

    2013-01-01

    In the present study, the nonlinear forced dynamics of an axially moving beam is investigated numerically taking into account the in-plane and out-of-plane motions. The nonlinear partial differential equations governing the motion of the system are derived via Hamilton’s principle. The Galerkin scheme is then introduced to these partial differential equations yielding a set of second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations with coupled terms. This set is transformed into a new set of first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations by means of a change of variables. A direct time integration technique is conducted upon the new set of equations resulting in the bifurcation diagrams of Poincaré maps of the system. The dynamical characteristics of the system are investigated for different system parameters and presented through use of time histories, phase-plane portraits, Poincaré sections, and fast Fourier transforms

  11. The horizontal plane appearances of scoliosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Illés, Tamás S.; Burkus, Máté; Somoskeőy, Szabolcs

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: A posterior-anterior vertebral vector is proposed to facilitate visualization and understanding of scoliosis. The aim of this study was to highlight the interest of using vertebral vectors, especially in the horizontal plane, in clinical practice. Methods: We used an EOS two-/three-dimen......Purpose: A posterior-anterior vertebral vector is proposed to facilitate visualization and understanding of scoliosis. The aim of this study was to highlight the interest of using vertebral vectors, especially in the horizontal plane, in clinical practice. Methods: We used an EOS two...... cases of a normal spine and a thoracic scoliosis are presented. Results: For a normal spine, vector projections in the transverse plane are aligned with the posterior-anterior anatomical axis. For a scoliotic spine, vector projections in the horizontal plane provide information on the lateral...... decompensation of the spine and the lateral displacement of vertebrae. In the horizontal plane view, vertebral rotation and projections of the sagittal curves can also be analyzed simultaneously. Conclusions: The use of posterior-anterior vertebral vector facilitates the understanding of the 3D nature...

  12. A physical model of laser-assisted blocking of blood flow: I. Rectangular radiation pulses

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Zheltov, GI

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available as to the investigation of destructive changes in these objects [1–16]. Various models were considered in these studies: a model of skin as a set of plane layers with different optical and physical properties (epider- mis, dermis, blood layer) [1–9], a similar model... conditions of minimal damage to adjacent healthy tissues. The necessity of local block- ing of the blood flow arises, e.g., upon dissection of tis- sues (stanching blood flow), upon treatment of vascular malformations (including those of diabetic origin...

  13. Woven type smart soft composite beam with in-plane shape retention

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Renzhe; Han, Min-Woo; Lee, Gil-Yong; Ahn, Sung-Hoon

    2013-01-01

    Shape memory alloy (SMA) wire embedded composites (SMAECs) are widely used as morphing structures in small-size and high-output systems. However, conventional SMAECs cannot keep deformed shapes without additional energy. In this paper, a new kind of smart structure named the woven type smart soft composite (SSC) beam is introduced, which is not only capable of morphing, but also maintaining its deformed shape without additional energy. The woven type SSC beam consists of two parts: woven wires and matrix. The selected woven wires are nitinol (Ni–Ti) SMA wires and glass fibers, while the matrix part is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In order to evaluate the performance of the woven type SSC beam in areas such as in-plane deformation, blocking force and repeatability, a beam-shape specimen is prepared of size 100 mm (length) × 8 mm (width) ×3 mm (thickness). The fabricated SSC beam achieved 21 mm deformation and 16 mm shape retention. Blocking force was measured using a dynamometer, and was about 60 mN. In the repeatability test, it recovered almost the same position when its cooling time was 90 s more. Consequently, the woven type SSC beam can be applied to bio-mimicking, soft morphing actuators, consuming less energy than traditional SMAECs. (paper)

  14. Intercorrelated in-plane and out-of-plane ferroelectricity in ultrathin two-dimensional layered semiconductor In2Se3

    KAUST Repository

    Cui, Chaojie; Hu, Weijin; Yan, Xingxu; Addiego, Christopher; Gao, Wenpei; Wang, Yao; Wang, Zhe; Li, Linze; Cheng, Yingchun; Li, Peng; Zhang, Xixiang; Alshareef, Husam N.; Wu, Tao; Zhu, Wenguang; Pan, Xiaoqing; Li, Lain-Jong

    2018-01-01

    Enriching the functionality of ferroelectric materials with visible-light sensitivity and multiaxial switching capability would open up new opportunities for their applications in advanced information storage with diverse signal manipulation functions. We report experimental observations of robust intra-layer ferroelectricity in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals layered -In2Se3 ultrathin flakes at room temperature. Distinct from other 2D and conventional ferroelectrics, In2Se3 exhibits intrinsically intercorrelated out-of-plane and in-plane polarization, where the reversal of the out-of-plane polarization by a vertical electric field also induces the rotation of the in-plane polarization. Based on the in-plane switchable diode effect and the narrow bandgap (~1.3 eV) of ferroelectric In2Se3, a prototypical non-volatile memory device, which can be manipulated both by electric field and visible light illumination, is demonstrated for advancing data storage technologies.

  15. Intercorrelated in-plane and out-of-plane ferroelectricity in ultrathin two-dimensional layered semiconductor In2Se3

    KAUST Repository

    Cui, Chaojie

    2018-01-30

    Enriching the functionality of ferroelectric materials with visible-light sensitivity and multiaxial switching capability would open up new opportunities for their applications in advanced information storage with diverse signal manipulation functions. We report experimental observations of robust intra-layer ferroelectricity in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals layered -In2Se3 ultrathin flakes at room temperature. Distinct from other 2D and conventional ferroelectrics, In2Se3 exhibits intrinsically intercorrelated out-of-plane and in-plane polarization, where the reversal of the out-of-plane polarization by a vertical electric field also induces the rotation of the in-plane polarization. Based on the in-plane switchable diode effect and the narrow bandgap (~1.3 eV) of ferroelectric In2Se3, a prototypical non-volatile memory device, which can be manipulated both by electric field and visible light illumination, is demonstrated for advancing data storage technologies.

  16. Causal inheritance in plane wave quotients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hubeny, Veronika E.; Rangamani, Mukund; Ross, Simon F.

    2003-01-01

    We investigate the appearance of closed timelike curves in quotients of plane waves along spacelike isometries. First we formulate a necessary and sufficient condition for a quotient of a general spacetime to preserve stable causality. We explicitly show that the plane waves are stably causal; in passing, we observe that some pp-waves are not even distinguishing. We then consider the classification of all quotients of the maximally supersymmetric ten-dimensional plane wave under a spacelike isometry, and show that the quotient will lead to closed timelike curves iff the isometry involves a translation along the u direction. The appearance of these closed timelike curves is thus connected to the special properties of the light cones in plane wave spacetimes. We show that all other quotients preserve stable causality

  17. Causal inheritance in plane wave quotients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubeny, Veronika E.; Rangamani, Mukund; Ross, Simon F.

    2004-01-01

    We investigate the appearance of closed timelike curves in quotients of plane waves along spacelike isometries. First we formulate a necessary and sufficient condition for a quotient of a general space-time to preserve stable causality. We explicitly show that the plane waves are stably causal; in passing, we observe that some pp waves are not even distinguishing. We then consider the classification of all quotients of the maximally supersymmetric ten-dimensional plane wave under a spacelike isometry, and show that the quotient will lead to closed timelike curves iff the isometry involves a translation along the u direction. The appearance of these closed timelike curves is thus connected to the special properties of the light cones in plane wave space-times. We show that all other quotients preserve stable causality.

  18. Intercorrelated In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Ferroelectricity in Ultrathin Two-Dimensional Layered Semiconductor In2Se3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Chaojie; Hu, Wei-Jin; Yan, Xingxu; Addiego, Christopher; Gao, Wenpei; Wang, Yao; Wang, Zhe; Li, Linze; Cheng, Yingchun; Li, Peng; Zhang, Xixiang; Alshareef, Husam N; Wu, Tom; Zhu, Wenguang; Pan, Xiaoqing; Li, Lain-Jong

    2018-02-14

    Enriching the functionality of ferroelectric materials with visible-light sensitivity and multiaxial switching capability would open up new opportunities for their applications in advanced information storage with diverse signal manipulation functions. We report experimental observations of robust intralayer ferroelectricity in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals layered α-In 2 Se 3 ultrathin flakes at room temperature. Distinct from other 2D and conventional ferroelectrics, In 2 Se 3 exhibits intrinsically intercorrelated out-of-plane and in-plane polarization, where the reversal of the out-of-plane polarization by a vertical electric field also induces the rotation of the in-plane polarization. On the basis of the in-plane switchable diode effect and the narrow bandgap (∼1.3 eV) of ferroelectric In 2 Se 3 , a prototypical nonvolatile memory device, which can be manipulated both by electric field and visible light illumination, is demonstrated for advancing data storage technologies.

  19. Minimum description length block finder, a method to identify haplotype blocks and to compare the strength of block boundaries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mannila, H; Koivisto, M; Perola, M; Varilo, T; Hennah, W; Ekelund, J; Lukk, M; Peltonen, L; Ukkonen, E

    2003-07-01

    We describe a new probabilistic method for finding haplotype blocks that is based on the use of the minimum description length (MDL) principle. We give a rigorous definition of the quality of a segmentation of a genomic region into blocks and describe a dynamic programming algorithm for finding the optimal segmentation with respect to this measure. We also describe a method for finding the probability of a block boundary for each pair of adjacent markers: this gives a tool for evaluating the significance of each block boundary. We have applied the method to the published data of Daly and colleagues. The results expose some problems that exist in the current methods for the evaluation of the significance of predicted block boundaries. Our method, MDL block finder, can be used to compare block borders in different sample sets, and we demonstrate this by applying the MDL-based method to define the block structure in chromosomes from population isolates.

  20. Nerve stimulator-guided sciatic-femoral nerve block in raptors undergoing surgical treatment of pododermatitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    d'Ovidio, Dario; Noviello, Emilio; Adami, Chiara

    2015-07-01

    To describe the nerve stimulator-guided sciatic-femoral nerve block in raptors undergoing surgical treatment of pododermatitis. Prospective clinical trial. Five captive raptors (Falco peregrinus) aged 6.7 ± 1.3 years. Anaesthesia was induced and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. The sciatic-femoral nerve block was performed with 2% lidocaine (0.05 mL kg(-1) per nerve) as the sole intra-operative analgesic treatment. Intraoperative physiological variables were recorded every 10 minutes from endotracheal intubation until the end of anaesthesia. Assessment of intraoperative nociception was based on changes in physiological variables above baseline values, while evaluation of postoperative pain relied on species-specific behavioural indicators. The sciatic-femoral nerve block was feasible in raptors and the motor responses following electrical stimulation of both nerves were consistent with those reported in mammalian species. During surgery no rescue analgesia was required. The anaesthesia plane was stable and cardiorespiratory variables did not increase significantly in response to surgical stimulation. Iatrogenic complications, namely nerve damage and local anaesthetic toxicity, did not occur. Recovery was smooth and uneventful. The duration (mean ± SD) of the analgesic effect provided by the nerve block was 130 ± 20 minutes. The sciatic-femoral nerve block as described in dogs and rabbits can be performed in raptors as well. Further clinical trials with a control groups are required to better investigate the analgesic efficacy and the safety of this technique in raptors. © 2014 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia.

  1. First results from the INTEGRAL galactic plane scans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Winkler, C.; Gehrels, N.; Schonfelder, V.

    2003-01-01

    Scans of the Galactic plane performed at regular intervals constitute a key element of the guaranteed time observations of the INTEGRAL observing programme. These scans are done for two reasons: frequent monitoring of the Galactic plane in order to detect transient sources, and time resolved mapp...... mapping of the Galactic plane in continuum and diffuse line emission. This paper describes first results obtained from the Galactic plane scans executed so far during the early phase (Dec. 2002-May 2003) of the nominal mission.......Scans of the Galactic plane performed at regular intervals constitute a key element of the guaranteed time observations of the INTEGRAL observing programme. These scans are done for two reasons: frequent monitoring of the Galactic plane in order to detect transient sources, and time resolved...

  2. Error Analysis on Plane-to-Plane Linear Approximate Coordinate ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Abstract. In this paper, the error analysis has been done for the linear approximate transformation between two tangent planes in celestial sphere in a simple case. The results demonstrate that the error from the linear transformation does not meet the requirement of high-precision astrometry under some conditions, so the ...

  3. Nanostructured carbon films with oriented graphitic planes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teo, E. H. T.; Kalish, R.; Kulik, J.; Kauffmann, Y.; Lifshitz, Y.

    2011-01-01

    Nanostructured carbon films with oriented graphitic planes can be deposited by applying energetic carbon bombardment. The present work shows the possibility of structuring graphitic planes perpendicular to the substrate in following two distinct ways: (i) applying sufficiently large carbon energies for deposition at room temperature (E>10 keV), (ii) utilizing much lower energies for deposition at elevated substrate temperatures (T>200 deg. C). High resolution transmission electron microscopy is used to probe the graphitic planes. The alignment achieved at elevated temperatures does not depend on the deposition angle. The data provides insight into the mechanisms leading to the growth of oriented graphitic planes under different conditions.

  4. Compact planes, mostly 8-dimensional. A retrospect

    OpenAIRE

    Salzmann, Helmut R.

    2014-01-01

    Results on $8$-dimensional topological planes are scattered in the literature. It is the aim of the present paper to give a survey of these geometries, in particular of information obtained after the appearance of the treatise Compact Projective Planes or not included in this book. For some theorems new proofs are given and a few related results concerning planes of other dimensions are presented.

  5. Competition between invariant habit plane and compatible junction plane in TiNb-based shape memory alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inamura, T.; Kim, H.Y.; Hosoda, H.; Miyazaki, S.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Kinematic compatibility (KC) among martensite variants in Ti-Nb-Al is evaluated. ► Rotation Q is necessary to keep KC at any junction plane (JP). ► The rotation Q is equivalent to the rotation to form the exact twin-relationship. ► The JP preferentially observed in experiment is the JP with the smaller Q. ► We propose two preferential JPs with {1 1 1} type I and 〈2 1 1〉 type II twin in Ti-Nb-Al. -- Abstract: The invariant plane (IP) condition at a habit plane (HP) and the kinematic compatibility (KC) condition at a junction plane (JP) are quantitatively evaluated by the geometrically nonlinear theory of martensite and the origin of the twin orientation relationship (OR) at a JP is revealed in a β titanium shape memory alloy. Exact twin OR at a JP is impossible among the habit plane variants (HPVs). A nonzero rotation is necessary to maintain the compatibility at a JP between the HPVs. The fully compatible HPV cluster in which IP at a HP and KC at a JP are maintained simultaneously is impossible in this alloy. However, it was found that twin OR and KC can be maintained simultaneously. The preferentially observed HPV clusters in transmission electron microscopy are the clusters with a smaller rotation to maintain KC at a JP

  6. Compressive Video Recovery Using Block Match Multi-Frame Motion Estimation Based on Single Pixel Cameras

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheng Bi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Compressive sensing (CS theory has opened up new paths for the development of signal processing applications. Based on this theory, a novel single pixel camera architecture has been introduced to overcome the current limitations and challenges of traditional focal plane arrays. However, video quality based on this method is limited by existing acquisition and recovery methods, and the method also suffers from being time-consuming. In this paper, a multi-frame motion estimation algorithm is proposed in CS video to enhance the video quality. The proposed algorithm uses multiple frames to implement motion estimation. Experimental results show that using multi-frame motion estimation can improve the quality of recovered videos. To further reduce the motion estimation time, a block match algorithm is used to process motion estimation. Experiments demonstrate that using the block match algorithm can reduce motion estimation time by 30%.

  7. Nonpolar a-plane GaN grown on r-plane sapphire using multilayer AlN buffer by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiang, C.H.; Chen, K.M.; Wu, Y.H.; Yeh, Y.S.; Lee, W.I.; Chen, J.F.; Lin, K.L.; Hsiao, Y.L.; Huang, W.C.; Chang, E.Y.

    2011-01-01

    Mirror-like and pit-free non-polar a-plane (1 1 -2 0) GaN films are grown on r-plane (1 -1 0 2) sapphire substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with multilayer high-low-high temperature AlN buffer layers. The buffer layer structure and film quality are essential to the growth of a flat, crack-free and pit-free a-plane GaN film. The multilayer AlN buffer structure includes a thin low-temperature-deposited AlN (LT-AlN) layer inserted into the high-temperature-deposited AlN (HT-AlN) layer. The results demonstrate that the multilayer AlN buffer structure can improve the surface morphology of the upper a-plane GaN film. The grown multilayer AlN buffer structure reduced the tensile stress on the AlN buffer layers and increased the compressive stress on the a-plane GaN film. The multilayer AlN buffer structure markedly improves the surface morphology of the a-plane GaN film, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of various growth V/III ratios was investigated to obtain a-plane GaN films with better surface morphology. The mean roughness of the surface was 1.02 nm, as revealed by atomic force microscopy. Accordingly, the multilayer AlN buffer structure improves the surface morphology and facilitates the complete coalescence of the a-plane GaN layer.

  8. Computed tomography of peripancreatic fat planes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wittich, G.R.; Van Sonnenberg, E.; Willson, S.A.; Tobin, R.S.; Cubberley, D.A.; Marx, M.Q.

    1987-01-01

    Obliteration of peripancreatic fat planes usually is considered an indicator of peripancreatic tumour infiltration in the presence of a malignant mass, or of inflammation of peripancreatic tissues in patients with pancreatitis. However, absence of peripancreatic fat planes also may be found in patients without evidence of pancreatic disease. Hence, CT scans of 125 patients without clinical or computed tomographic evidence of pancreatic disease were evaluated to assess normal variations in the anatomy of the pancreas and its relation to surrounding vessels and bowel loops. The fat plane separating the superior mesenteric artery from the pancreas was preserved in 100% of patients. Conversely, fat planes between the pancreas and the superior mesenteric vein, inferior vena cava, and adjacent bowel loops were partially or totally obliterated in 13% to 50% of patients. It is concluded that the absence of fat around the superior mesenteric artery is highly suggestive of pathologic changes of the pancreas, while the lack of fat planes between the pancreas and other splanchnic vessels or bowel loops frequently is normal, and therefore, is an unreliable sign of pancreatic disease. The applications of these findings to the assessment of tumour resectability by CT, and to CT scanning techniques, are discussed. (orig.)

  9. Slipping and rolling on an inclined plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aghamohammadi, Cina; Aghamohammadi, Amir

    2011-01-01

    In the first part of the paper, using a direct calculation two-dimensional motion of a particle sliding on an inclined plane is investigated for general values of friction coefficient (μ). A parametric equation for the trajectory of the particle is also obtained. In the second part of the paper, the motion of a sphere on the inclined plane is studied. It is shown that the evolution equation for the contact point of a sliding sphere is similar to that of a point particle sliding on an inclined plane whose friction coefficient is 7/2 μ. If μ > 2/7 tan θ, for any arbitrary initial velocity and angular velocity, the sphere will roll on the inclined plane after some finite time. In other cases, it will slip on the inclined plane. In the case of rolling, the centre of the sphere moves on a parabola. Finally the velocity and angular velocity of the sphere are exactly computed.

  10. Deflection of electron beams by ground planes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fernsler, R.F.; Lampe, M.

    1991-01-01

    Analytic methods are used to determine the effect of a nearby ground plane on the trajectory of a relativistic electron beam passing through dense gas. The beam is shown to respond to the ground plane in one of two distinct modes, determined by beam current and energy. Low-power beams deflect from the ground plane and tear longitudinally. High-power beams do not deflect or tear but tilt, i.e., the beam axis is no longer parallel to the direction of propagation. This conclusion is reached by computing the net beam force as a superposition of the ''bare'' ground-plane forces, the shielding forces from the beam-generated plasma, the body coupling forces induced by beam tilt, and the force that arises as the beam separates from the plasma. Effects from electromagnetic retardation and ground resistivity are shown to be negligible in typical cases of interest, and the interaction between ground planes and other external forces is discussed as well

  11. Quantum Mechanics on the h-deformed Quantum Plane

    OpenAIRE

    Cho, Sunggoo

    1998-01-01

    We find the covariant deformed Heisenberg algebra and the Laplace-Beltrami operator on the extended $h$-deformed quantum plane and solve the Schr\\"odinger equations explicitly for some physical systems on the quantum plane. In the commutative limit the behaviour of a quantum particle on the quantum plane becomes that of the quantum particle on the Poincar\\'e half-plane, a surface of constant negative Gaussian curvature. We show the bound state energy spectra for particles under specific poten...

  12. The digestive system of 1-week old Jersey calves is well suited to digest, absorb, and incorporate protein and energy into tissue growth even when fed a high plane of milk replacer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    The objectives of the current study were to determine the digestibilities of nutrients as well as investigate the nitrogen retention of calves fed different planes of milk replacer nutrition during the first week of life. Twelve Jersey calves were blocked by body weight at birth and randomly assigne...

  13. Anatomical planes: are we teaching accurate surface anatomy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirjalili, S Ali; McFadden, Sarah L; Buckenham, Tim; Wilson, Ben; Stringer, Mark D

    2012-10-01

    Anatomical planes used in clinical practice and teaching anatomy are largely derived from cadaver studies. Numerous inconsistencies in clinically important surface markings exist between and within anatomical reference texts. The aim of this study was to reassess the accuracy of common anatomical planes in vivo using computed tomographic (CT) imaging. CT scans of the trunk in supine adults at end tidal inspiration were analyzed by dual consensus reporting to determine the anatomy of five anatomical planes: sternal angle, transpyloric, subcostal, supracristal, and the plane of the pubic crest. Patients with kyphosis, scoliosis, or abnormal lordosis, distorting space-occupying lesions, or visceromegaly were excluded. Among 153 thoracic CT scans (mean age 63 years, 53% female), the sternal angle was most common at T4 (females) or T4/5 (males) vertebral level, and the tracheal bifurcation, aortic arch, and pulmonary trunk were most often below this plane. In 108 abdominal CT scans (mean age 60 years, 59% female), the subcostal and supracristal planes were most often at L2 (58%) and L4 (69%), respectively. In 52 thoracoabdominal CT scans (mean age 61 years, 56% female), the transpyloric plane was between lower L1 and upper L2 (75%); in this plane were the superior mesenteric artery (56%), formation of the portal vein (53%), tip of the ninth rib (60%), and the left renal hilum (54%), but the right renal hilum and gallbladder fundus were more often below. The surface anatomy of anatomical planes needs revising in the light of results from living subjects using modern imaging techniques. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Regularized plane-wave least-squares Kirchhoff migration

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Xin

    2013-09-22

    A Kirchhoff least-squares migration (LSM) is developed in the prestack plane-wave domain to increase the quality of migration images. A regularization term is included that accounts for mispositioning of reflectors due to errors in the velocity model. Both synthetic and field results show that: 1) LSM with a reflectivity model common for all the plane-wave gathers provides the best image when the migration velocity model is accurate, but it is more sensitive to the velocity errors, 2) the regularized plane-wave LSM is more robust in the presence of velocity errors, and 3) LSM achieves both computational and IO saving by plane-wave encoding compared to shot-domain LSM for the models tested.

  15. Relationship between rectus abdominis muscle thickness and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged men.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eun Sil Choi

    Full Text Available Skeletal muscle has been suggested as an important factor in the pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome. During the aging process, muscle mass is lost in specific body parts. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between site-specific muscle loss assessed using computed tomography (CT and metabolic syndrome. This study was conducted to investigate the association between metabolic syndrome and rectus abdominis muscle thickness at the umbilicus level (RAM, which reflects site-specific muscle loss of the abdomen using CT image.This cross-sectional study was conducted on 725 middle-aged Korean men. Anthropometric evaluation and biochemical tests were performed. The RAMs of the subjects were measured from CT images taken at the umbilicus level.The mean RAM (mean ±SD of subjects with metabolic syndrome was 2.46 ±0.01, which was thinner than that of subjects without metabolic syndrome (2.52 ±0.01, p<0.01. Moreover, RAM decreased as the number of metabolic syndrome components increased (p-value for trend<0.01. RAM was positively correlated with body mass index (r = 0.21, p<0.01, skeletal muscle index (r = 0.26, p<0.01, and creatinine (r = 0.12, p<0.01, while RAM was negatively correlated with age(r = -0.11, p<0.01, abdominal circumference(r = -0.22, p<0.01, fasting glucose (r = -0.10, p<0.01, and triglycerides(r = -0.15, p<0.01. Using a stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis, we found that RAM was an independent factor associated with metabolic syndrome (OR: 0.861, 95%CI, 0.779-0.951, p<0.01. The result was not different in the statistical analysis including the components of MS (OR: 0.860, 95% CI, 0.767-0.965, p = 0.01.RAM was associated with metabolic syndrome in middle-aged men. Moreover, site-specific muscle loss at the abdomen, as evaluated by RAM, also may be a predictor of metabolic syndrome like SMI.

  16. Postmastectomy reconstruction: comparative analysis of the psychosocial, functional, and cosmetic effects of transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap versus breast implant reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cederna, P S; Yates, W R; Chang, P; Cram, A E; Ricciardelli, E J

    1995-11-01

    Over 40,000 postmastectomy breast reconstructions are performed annually. In this study, we investigated the psychosocial, functional, and cosmetic effects of transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap versus breast implant reconstruction. Thirty-three women who had undergone postmastectomy breast reconstruction were contacted by telephone and agreed to participate in the study. Twenty-two women completed the self-assessment questionnaires regarding their quality of life, psychological symptoms, functional status, body image, and global satisfaction. The TRAM and implant groups contained 8 and 14 patients, respectively. The groups were well matched for age, employment status, marital status, race, religion, and severity of medical and surgical illnesses. The average follow-up was 36 months. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed that women who had undergone TRAM flap reconstruction were more satisfied with how their reconstructed breast felt to the touch (p = .01), and there was a trend toward greater satisfaction with the appearance of their reconstructed breast (p = .08). However, these same patients identified more difficulties as far as functioning at work or school, performing vigorous physical activities, participating in community or religious activities, visiting with relatives, and interacting with male friends (p physical impairments as a result of their reconstruction.

  17. Projective block Lanczos algorithm for dense, Hermitian eigensystems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Webster, F.; Lo, G.C.

    1996-01-01

    Projection operators are used to effect open-quotes deflation by restrictionclose quotes and it is argued that this is an optimal Lanczos algorithm for memory minimization. Algorithmic optimization is constrained to dense, Hermitian eigensystems where a significant number of the extreme eigenvectors must be obtained reliably and completely. The defining constraints are operator algebra without a matrix representation and semi-orthogonalization without storage of Krylov vectors. other semi-orthogonalization strategies for Lanczos algorithms and conjugate gradient techniques are evaluated within these constraints. Large scale, sparse, complex numerical experiments are performed on clusters of magnetic dipoles, a quantum many-body system that is not block-diagonalizable. Plane-wave, density functional theory of beryllium clusters provides examples of dense complex eigensystems. Use of preconditioners and spectral transformations is evaluated in a preprocessor prior to a high accuracy self-consistent field calculation. 25 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs

  18. Study of combined cycle engine for aerospace plane

    OpenAIRE

    苅田, 丈士; KANDA, Takeshi; 工藤, 賢司; KUDO, Kenji

    2002-01-01

    At the Ramjet Propulsion Research Center, the scramjet engine for an aerospace plane has been studied. Other engines are required for the plane to go into orbit. Recently, a combined cycle engine including scramjet mode has been also studied to complete the engine system for the plane. The scramjet and the combined cycle engine are most effective with application to the Single-Stage-to-Orbit (SSTO) aerospace plane, as shown in Figure 1. Recent activity on the combined cycle engine and the SST...

  19. Generalized Block Failure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jönsson, Jeppe

    2015-01-01

    Block tearing is considered in several codes as a pure block tension or a pure block shear failure mechanism. However in many situations the load acts eccentrically and involves the transfer of a substantial moment in combination with the shear force and perhaps a normal force. A literature study...... shows that no readily available tests with a well-defined substantial eccentricity have been performed. This paper presents theoretical and experimental work leading towards generalized block failure capacity methods. Simple combination of normal force, shear force and moment stress distributions along...... yield lines around the block leads to simple interaction formulas similar to other interaction formulas in the codes....

  20. Neuromorphic infrared focal plane performs sensor fusion on-plane local-contrast-enhancement spatial and temporal filtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massie, Mark A.; Woolaway, James T., II; Curzan, Jon P.; McCarley, Paul L.

    1993-08-01

    An infrared focal plane has been simulated, designed and fabricated which mimics the form and function of the vertebrate retina. The `Neuromorphic' focal plane has the capability of performing pixel-based sensor fusion and real-time local contrast enhancement, much like the response of the human eye. The device makes use of an indium antimonide detector array with a 3 - 5 micrometers spectral response, and a switched capacitor resistive network to compute a real-time 2D spatial average. This device permits the summation of other sensor outputs to be combined on-chip with the infrared detections of the focal plane itself. The resulting real-time analog processed information thus represents the combined information of many sensors with the advantage that analog spatial and temporal signal processing is performed at the focal plane. A Gaussian subtraction method is used to produce the pixel output which when displayed produces an image with enhanced edges, representing spatial and temporal derivatives in the scene. The spatial and temporal responses of the device are tunable during operation, permitting the operator to `peak up' the response of the array to spatial and temporally varying signals. Such an array adapts to ambient illumination conditions without loss of detection performance. This paper reviews the Neuromorphic infrared focal plane from initial operational simulations to detailed design characteristics, and concludes with a presentation of preliminary operational data for the device as well as videotaped imagery.

  1. Epidural block

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000484.htm Epidural block - pregnancy To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. An epidural block is a numbing medicine given by injection (shot) ...

  2. Streptococcus anginosus infections: crossing tissue planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunwoo, Bernie Y; Miller, Wallace T

    2014-10-01

    Streptococcus anginosus has long been recognized to cause invasive pyogenic infections. This holds true for thoracic infections where S. anginosus has a propensity for abscess and empyema formation. Early diagnosis is important given the significant morbidity and mortality associated with thoracic S. anginosus infections. Yet, distinguishing thoracic S. anginosus clinically is difficult. We present three cases of thoracic S. anginosus that demonstrated radiographic extension across tissue planes, including the interlobar fissure, diaphragm, and chest wall. Few infectious etiologies are known to cross tissue planes. Accordingly, we propose S. anginosus be considered among the differential diagnosis of potential infectious etiologies causing radiographic extension across tissue planes.

  3. Effect of twinning plane on superconductor magnetic properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buzdin, A.I.; Kuptsov, D.A.

    1989-01-01

    Effect of twinning planes on pinning of the Abrikosov vortices in superconductors of the second order with the Ginsburg-Landau parameter, κ >> 1, is considered. The modified Ginsburg-Landau functional, where the effect of superconducting properties improvement near the twinning plane is taken into account by adding the additional δ-function component, is used to descibe superconductivity of twinning plane. Force of interaction of a vortex filament and the twinning plane is calculated. It is shown that in case of the twinning plane opaque to electrons, additional attractive force, being analogous to that occurring in the problem on the surface Been-Livingston barrier, affects the vortex filament. The results can explain anisotropy of vortex pinning observed in the periodic twinning structure in high-temperature superconductors

  4. Comparison of Skeletal and Dental Reference Planes with the Hamulus-Incisive-Papilla Plane: A Pilot Study on 3D Reconstructed Tomographies of the Skull.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pittschieler, Elisabeth; Foltin, Andrea; Falkensammer, Frank; Figl, Michael; Birkfellner, Wolfgang; Jonke, Erwin; Bantleon, Hans-Peter

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the hamulus-incisive-papilla (HIP) plane as an alternative for transferring the three-dimensional position of a patient's maxilla to an articulator. Camper, Frankfurt horizontal, occlusal, and HIP planes were evaluated in 21 patients' computed tomography scans and compared to one another. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between all planes, with the HIP plane being closest to the occlusal plane (HIP-OP: 0.6 ± 4.0 degrees). Frankfurt and Camper planes, being more peripheral, showed higher geometric asymmetries. The HIP plane, when used for articulator mounting, results in a closer and more technically reliable patient relationship in a clinical and laboratory context.

  5. Off-plane x-ray reflection grating fabrication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Thomas J.; DeRoo, Casey T.; Marlowe, Hannah; McEntaffer, Randall L.; Miles, Drew M.; Tutt, James H.; Schultz, Ted B.

    2015-09-01

    Off-plane X-ray diffraction gratings with precision groove profiles at the submicron scale will be used in next generation X-ray spectrometers. Such gratings will be used on a current NASA suborbital rocket mission, the Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE), and have application for future grating missions. The fabrication of these gratings does not come without challenges. High performance off-plane gratings must be fabricated with precise radial grating patterns, optically at surfaces, and specific facet angles. Such gratings can be made using a series of common micro-fabrication techniques. The resulting process is highly customizable, making it useful for a variety of different mission architectures. In this paper, we detail the fabrication method used to produce high performance off-plane gratings and report the results of a preliminary qualification test of a grating fabricated in this manner. The grating was tested in the off-plane `Littrow' configuration, for which the grating is most efficient for a given diffraction order, and found to achieve 42% relative efficiency in the blaze order with respect to all diffracted light.

  6. Predictability of blocking

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tosi, E.; Ruti, P.; Tibaldi, S.; D'Andrea, F.

    1994-01-01

    Tibaldi and Molteni (1990, hereafter referred to as TM) had previously investigated operational blocking predictability by the ECMWF model and the possible relationships between model systematic error and blocking in the winter season of the Northern Hemisphere, using seven years of ECMWF operational archives of analyses and day 1 to 10 forecasts. They showed that fewer blocking episodes than in the real atmosphere were generally simulated by the model, and that this deficiency increased with increasing forecast time. As a consequence of this, a major contribution to the systematic error in the winter season was shown to derive from the inability of the model to properly forecast blocking. In this study, the analysis performed in TM for the first seven winter seasons of the ECMWF operational model is extended to the subsequent five winters, during which model development, reflecting both resolution increases and parametrisation modifications, continued unabated. In addition the objective blocking index developed by TM has been applied to the observed data to study the natural low frequency variability of blocking. The ability to simulate blocking of some climate models has also been tested

  7. Intradomain phase transitions in flexible block copolymers with self-aligning segments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, Christopher J.; Grason, Gregory M.

    2018-05-01

    We study a model of flexible block copolymers (BCPs) in which there is an enlthalpic preference for orientational order, or local alignment, among like-block segments. We describe a generalization of the self-consistent field theory of flexible BCPs to include inter-segment orientational interactions via a Landau-de Gennes free energy associated with a polar or nematic order parameter for segments of one component of a diblock copolymer. We study the equilibrium states of this model numerically, using a pseudo-spectral approach to solve for chain conformation statistics in the presence of a self-consistent torque generated by inter-segment alignment forces. Applying this theory to the structure of lamellar domains composed of symmetric diblocks possessing a single block of "self-aligning" polar segments, we show the emergence of spatially complex segment order parameters (segment director fields) within a given lamellar domain. Because BCP phase separation gives rise to spatially inhomogeneous orientation order of segments even in the absence of explicit intra-segment aligning forces, the director fields of BCPs, as well as thermodynamics of lamellar domain formation, exhibit a highly non-linear dependence on both the inter-block segregation (χN) and the enthalpy of alignment (ɛ). Specifically, we predict the stability of new phases of lamellar order in which distinct regions of alignment coexist within the single mesodomain and spontaneously break the symmetries of the lamella (or smectic) pattern of composition in the melt via in-plane tilt of the director in the centers of the like-composition domains. We further show that, in analogy to Freedericksz transition confined nematics, the elastic costs to reorient segments within the domain, as described by the Frank elasticity of the director, increase the threshold value ɛ needed to induce this intra-domain phase transition.

  8. Plane-Casting: 3D Cursor Control with a SmartPhone

    OpenAIRE

    Katzakis, Nicholas; Kiyokawa, Kiyoshi; Hori, Masahiro; Takemura, Haruo

    2018-01-01

    We present Plane-Casting, a novel technique for 3D object manipulation from a distance that is especially suitable for smartphones. We describe two variations of Plane-Casting, Pivot and Free Plane-Casting, and present results from a pilot study. Results suggest that Pivot Plane-Casting is more suitable for quick, coarse movements whereas Free Plane-Casting is more suited to slower, precise motion. In a 3D movement task, Pivot Plane-Casting performed better quantitatively, but subjects prefer...

  9. Moving vertices to make drawings plane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goaoc, X.; Kratochvil, J.; Okamoto, Y.; Shin, C.S.; Wolff, A.; Hong, S.K.; Nishizeki, T.; Quan, W.

    2008-01-01

    In John Tantalo’s on-line game Planarity the player is given a non-plane straight-line drawing of a planar graph. The aim is to make the drawing plane as quickly as possible by moving vertices. In this paper we investigate the related problem MinMovedVertices which asks for the minimum number of

  10. 3D plane-wave least-squares Kirchhoff migration

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Xin

    2014-08-05

    A three dimensional least-squares Kirchhoff migration (LSM) is developed in the prestack plane-wave domain to increase the quality of migration images and the computational efficiency. Due to the limitation of current 3D marine acquisition geometries, a cylindrical-wave encoding is adopted for the narrow azimuth streamer data. To account for the mispositioning of reflectors due to errors in the velocity model, a regularized LSM is devised so that each plane-wave or cylindrical-wave gather gives rise to an individual migration image, and a regularization term is included to encourage the similarities between the migration images of similar encoding schemes. Both synthetic and field results show that: 1) plane-wave or cylindrical-wave encoding LSM can achieve both computational and IO saving, compared to shot-domain LSM, however, plane-wave LSM is still about 5 times more expensive than plane-wave migration; 2) the regularized LSM is more robust compared to LSM with one reflectivity model common for all the plane-wave or cylindrical-wave gathers.

  11. The in-focus variable line spacing plane grating monochromator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reininger, R.

    2011-01-01

    The in-focus variable line spacing plane grating monochromator is based on only two plane optical elements, a variable line spacing plane grating and a plane pre-mirror that illuminates the grating at the angle of incidence that will focus the required photon energy. A high throughput beamline requires only a third optical element after the exit slit, an aberration corrected elliptical toroid. Since plane elements can be manufactured with the smallest figure errors, this monochromator design can achieve very high resolving power. Furthermore, this optical design can correct the deformations induced by the heat load on the optics along the dispersion plane. This should allow obtaining a resolution of 10 meV at 1 keV with currently achievable figure errors on plane optics. The position of the photon source when an insertion device center is not located at the center of the straight section, a common occurrence in new insertion device beamlines, is investigated.

  12. Homogeneous bilateral block shifts

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Douglas class were classified in [3]; they are unilateral block shifts of arbitrary block size (i.e. dim H(n) can be anything). However, no examples of irreducible homogeneous bilateral block shifts of block size larger than 1 were known until now.

  13. Detection block

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezak, A.

    1987-01-01

    A diagram is given of a detection block used for monitoring burnup of nuclear reactor fuel. A shielding block is an important part of the detection block. It stabilizes the fuel assembly in the fixing hole in front of a collimator where a suitable gamma beam is defined for gamma spectrometry determination of fuel burnup. The detector case and a neutron source case are placed on opposite sides of the fixing hole. For neutron measurement for which the water in the tank is used as a moderator, the neutron detector-fuel assembly configuration is selected such that neutrons from spontaneous fission and neutrons induced with the neutron source can both be measured. The patented design of the detection block permits longitudinal travel and rotation of the fuel assembly to any position, and thus more reliable determination of nuclear fuel burnup. (E.S.). 1 fig

  14. A Viewpoint on the Quantity "Plane Angle"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eder, W. E.

    1982-01-01

    Properties of the quantity "plane angle" are explored under the hypothesis that it is a dimensional quantity. The exploration proceeds especially with respect to the physical concept, its mathematical treatment, vector concepts, measurement theory, units of related quantities, engineering pragmatism, and SI. An attempt is made to bring these different relations into a rational, logical and consistent framework, and thus to justify the hypothesis. Various types of vectorial quantities are recognized, and their properties described with an outline of the necessary algebraic manipulations. The concept of plane angle is amplified, and its interdependence with the circular arc is explored. The resulting units of plane angle form a class of similar scales of measurement. Consequences of the confirmed hypothesis are developed for mathematical expressions involving trigonometric functions, rotational volumes and areas, mathematical limits, differentiation and series expansion. Consequences for mechanical rotational quantities are developed, with proposals for revisions to a number of expressions for derived units within SI. A revised definition for the quantity "plane angle" is stated to take account of the developed insights. There is a clear need to reconsider the status of plane angle and some other quantities within the international framework of SI.

  15. Molecular cloning of plane pollen allergen Pla a 3 and its utility as diagnostic marker for peach associated plane pollen allergy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wangorsch, A; Larsson, H; Messmer, M; García-Moral, A; Lauer, I; Wolfheimer, S; Schülke, S; Bartra, J; Vieths, S; Lidholm, J; Scheurer, S

    2016-05-01

    Non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTP) are considered to provoke allergic symptoms to plane tree pollen, which are frequently associated with peach allergy. The objective was to clone the cDNA of plane pollen nsLTP Pla a 3, to characterize IgE-binding and allergenic potency of recombinant Pla a 3 in comparison to its natural counterpart and peach nsLTP Pru p 3. Natural Pla a 3 was purified from plane pollen and analysed by mass spectrometry (MS). Recombinant Pla a 3 was characterized by SDS-PAGE and CD spectroscopy. Specific IgE to extract, components of plane pollen and Pru p 3 was measured by ImmunoCAP in sera of patients allergic to either plane pollen (n = 10), peach (n = 15) or both (n = 15). Biological potency of the proteins was investigated by in vitro mediator release assays and IgE cross-reactivity by competitive ELISA. Two Pla a 3 isoforms were identified. Recombinant Pla a 3 showed high purity, structural integrity, IgE-binding capacity comparable to nPla a 3 and biological potency. Sensitization to plane pollen extract was confirmed in 24/25 plane pollen allergics. The frequency of sensitization to Pla a 3 was 53% among patients allergic to both plane pollen and peach and 10% among plane pollen allergics tolerating peach where most patients were sensitized to Pla a 1. Pla a 3 and Pru p 3 showed strong bi-directional IgE cross-reactivity in patients allergic to peach and plane pollen, but not in peach allergics tolerating plane pollen. Levels of IgE-binding were generally higher to Pru p 3 than to Pla a 3. Sensitization to Pla a 3 is relevant in a subgroup of plane pollen allergics with concomitant peach allergy. IgE testing with Pla a 3 may serve as a marker to identify plane pollen allergic patients at risk of LTP-mediated food reactions and thereby improve in vitro diagnostic procedures. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Dose distributions of pendulum fields in the field border plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schrader, R.

    1986-01-01

    Calculations (program SIDOS-U2) and LiF measurements taken in a cylindric water phantom are used to investigate the isodose distributions of different pendulum irradiation methods (Co-60) in a plane which is parallel to the central ray plane and crosses the field borders at the depth of the axis. The dose values compared to the maximum values of the central ray plane are completely different for each pendulum method. In case of monoaxial pendulum methods around small angles, the maximum dose value found in the border plane is less than 50% of the dose in the central ray plane. The relative maximum of the border plane moves to tissues laying in a greater depth. In case of bi-axial methods, the maximum value of the border plane can be much more than 50% of the maximum dose measured in the central ray plane. (orig.) [de

  17. Transparency in stereopsis: parallel encoding of overlapping depth planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeves, Adam; Lynch, David

    2017-08-01

    We report that after extensive training, expert adults can accurately report the number, up to six, of transparent overlapping depth planes portrayed by brief (400 ms or 200 ms) random-element stereoscopic displays, and can well discriminate six from seven planes. Naïve subjects did poorly above three planes. Displays contained seven rows of 12 randomly located ×'s or +'s; jittering the disparities and number in each row to remove spurious cues had little effect on accuracy. Removing the central 3° of the 10° display to eliminate foveal vision hardly reduced the number of reportable planes. Experts could report how many of six planes contained +'s when the remainder contained ×'s, and most learned to report up to six planes in reverse contrast (left eye white +'s; right eye black +'s). Long-term training allowed some experts to reach eight depth planes. Results suggest that adult stereoscopic vision can learn to distinguish the outputs of six or more statistically independent, contrast-insensitive, narrowly tuned, asymmetric disparity channels in parallel.

  18. Plane-wave least-squares reverse-time migration

    KAUST Repository

    Dai, Wei; Schuster, Gerard T.

    2013-01-01

    . The merits of plane-wave prestack LSRTM are the following: (1) plane-wave prestack LSRTM can sometimes offer stable convergence even when the migration velocity has bulk errors of up to 5%; (2) to significantly reduce computation cost, linear phase

  19. A zonal wavefront sensor with multiple detector planes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pathak, Biswajit; Boruah, Bosanta R.

    2018-03-01

    A conventional zonal wavefront sensor estimates the wavefront from the data captured in a single detector plane using a single camera. In this paper, we introduce a zonal wavefront sensor which comprises multiple detector planes instead of a single detector plane. The proposed sensor is based on an array of custom designed plane diffraction gratings followed by a single focusing lens. The laser beam whose wavefront is to be estimated is incident on the grating array and one of the diffracted orders from each grating is focused on the detector plane. The setup, by employing a beam splitter arrangement, facilitates focusing of the diffracted beams on multiple detector planes where multiple cameras can be placed. The use of multiple cameras in the sensor can offer several advantages in the wavefront estimation. For instance, the proposed sensor can provide superior inherent centroid detection accuracy that can not be achieved by the conventional system. It can also provide enhanced dynamic range and reduced crosstalk performance. We present here the results from a proof of principle experimental arrangement that demonstrate the advantages of the proposed wavefront sensing scheme.

  20. Three-dimensional Frankfort horizontal plane for 3D cephalometry: a comparative assessment of conventional versus novel landmarks and horizontal planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pittayapat, Pisha; Jacobs, Reinhilde; Bornstein, Michael M; Odri, Guillaume A; Lambrichts, Ivo; Willems, Guy; Politis, Constantinus; Olszewski, Raphael

    2018-05-25

    To assess the reproducibility of landmarks in three dimensions that determine the Frankfort horizontal plane (FH) as well as two new landmarks, and to evaluate the angular differences of newly introduced planes to the FH. Three-dimensional (3D) surface models were created from CBCT scans of 26 dry human skulls. Porion (Po), orbitale (Or), internal acoustic foramen (IAF), and zygomatico-maxillary suture (ZyMS) were indicated in the software by three observers twice with a 4-week interval. Angles between two FHs (FH 1: Or-R, Or-L, mid-Po; FH 2: Po-R, Po-L, mid-Or) and between FHs and new planes (Plane 1-6) were measured. Coordinates were exported to a spreadsheet. A statistical analysis was performed to define the landmark reproducibility and 3D angles. Intra- and inter-observer landmark reproducibility showed mean difference more than 1 mm for x-coordinates of all landmarks except IAF. IAF showed significantly better reproducibility than other landmarks (P Plane 3, connecting Or-R, Or-L and mid-IAF, and Plane 4, connecting Po-R, Po-L and mid-ZyMS, both showed an angular difference of less than 1 degree when compared to FHs. This study revealed poor reproducibility of the traditional FH landmarks on the x-axis and good reproducibility of a new landmark tested to replace Po, the IAF. Yet, Or showed superior results compared to ZyMS. The potential of using new horizontal planes was demonstrated. Future studies should focus on identification of a valid alternative for Or and ZyMS and on clinical implementation of the findings.

  1. Synthesis of amylose-block-polystyrene rod-coil block copolymers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Loos, Katja; Stadler, Reimund

    1997-01-01

    In the present communication we demonstrate the synthesis of a hybrid block copolymer based on the combination of a biopolymer (amylose) with a synthetic block (polystyrene). To obtain such materials, amino-functionalized polymers were modified with maltoheptaose moieties that serve as initiators

  2. Crystallographic tilt and in-plane anisotropies of an a-plane InGaN/GaN layered structure grown by MOCVD on r-plane sapphire using a ZnO buffer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, H F; Chi, D Z; Liu, W; Guo, S

    2016-01-01

    High-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) was used to investigate the crystallographic tilts and structural anisotropies in epitaxial nonpolar a-plane InGaN/GaN grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition on r-plane sapphire using a ZnO buffer. The substrate had an unintentional miscut of 0.14° towards its [–4 2 2 3] axis. However, HRXRD revealed a tilt of 0.26° (0.20°) between the ZnO (GaN) (11-20) and the Al 2 O 3 (1-102) atomic planes, with the (11-20) axis of ZnO (GaN) tilted towards its c-axis, which has a difference of 163° in azimuth from that of the substrate’s miscut. Excess broadenings in the GaN/ZnO (11-20) rocking curves (RCs) were observed along its c-axis. Specific analyses revealed that partial dislocations and anisotropic in-plane strains, rather than surface-related effects, wafer curvature or stacking faults, are the dominant factors for the structural anisotropy. The orientation of the partial dislocations is most likely affected by the miscut of the substrate, e.g. via tilting of the misfit dislocation gliding planes created during island coalescences. Their Burgers vector components in the growth direction, in turn, gave rise to crystallographic tilts in the same direction as that of the excess RC-broadenings. (paper)

  3. Crystallographic tilt and in-plane anisotropies of an a-plane InGaN/GaN layered structure grown by MOCVD on r-plane sapphire using a ZnO buffer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, H. F.; Liu, W.; Guo, S.; Chi, D. Z.

    2016-03-01

    High-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) was used to investigate the crystallographic tilts and structural anisotropies in epitaxial nonpolar a-plane InGaN/GaN grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on r-plane sapphire using a ZnO buffer. The substrate had an unintentional miscut of 0.14° towards its [-4 2 2 3] axis. However, HRXRD revealed a tilt of 0.26° (0.20°) between the ZnO (GaN) (11-20) and the Al2O3 (1-102) atomic planes, with the (11-20) axis of ZnO (GaN) tilted towards its c-axis, which has a difference of 163° in azimuth from that of the substrate’s miscut. Excess broadenings in the GaN/ZnO (11-20) rocking curves (RCs) were observed along its c-axis. Specific analyses revealed that partial dislocations and anisotropic in-plane strains, rather than surface-related effects, wafer curvature or stacking faults, are the dominant factors for the structural anisotropy. The orientation of the partial dislocations is most likely affected by the miscut of the substrate, e.g. via tilting of the misfit dislocation gliding planes created during island coalescences. Their Burgers vector components in the growth direction, in turn, gave rise to crystallographic tilts in the same direction as that of the excess RC-broadenings.

  4. Robust micromachining of compliant mechanisms for out-of-plane microsensors

    OpenAIRE

    Khosraviani, Kourosh

    2013-01-01

    Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) take advantage of a wide range of very reliable, and well established existing microelectronics fabrication techniques. Due to the planar nature of these techniques, out-of-plane MEMS devices must be fabricated in-plane and assembled afterwards in order to create out-of-plane three-dimensional structures. Out-of-plane microstructures extend the design space of the MEMS based devices and overcome many limitations of the in-plane processing. Nevertheless,...

  5. Paravertebral Block Plus Thoracic Wall Block versus Paravertebral Block Alone for Analgesia of Modified Radical Mastectomy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nai-Liang Li

    Full Text Available Paravertebral block placement was the main anesthetic technique for modified radical mastectomy in our hospital until February 2014, when its combination with blocks targeting the pectoral musculature was initiated. We compared the analgesic effects of paravertebral blocks with or without blocks targeting the pectoral musculature for modified radical mastectomy.We retrospectively collected data from a single surgeon and anesthesiologist from June 1, 2012, to May 31, 2015. Intraoperative sedatives and analgesic requirements, time to the first analgesic request, postoperative analgesic doses, patient satisfaction, and complications were compared.Fifty-four patients received a paravertebral block alone (PECS 0, and 46 received a paravertebral block combined with blocks targeting the pectoral musculature (PECS 1. The highest intraoperative effect-site concentration of propofol was significantly lower in the PECS 1 group than in the PECS 0 group [2.3 (1.5, 2.8 vs 2.5 (1.5, 4 μg/mL, p = 0.0014]. The intraoperative rescue analgesic dose was significantly lower in the PECS 1 group [0 (0, 25 vs 0 (0, 75 mg of ketamine, p = 0.0384]. Furthermore, the PECS 1 group had a significantly longer time to the first analgesic request [636.5 (15, 720 vs 182.5 (14, 720 min, p = 0.0001]. After further adjustment for age, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification, chronic pain history, incidence of a superficial cervical plexus block placement, and operation duration, blocks targeting the pectoral musculature were determined to be the only significant factor (hazard ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.58; p < 0.0001. Very few patients used potent analgesics including morphine and ketorolac; the cumulative use of morphine or ketorolac was similar in the study groups. However, the incidence of all analgesic use, namely morphine, ketorolac, acetaminophen, and celecoxib, was significantly lower in the PECS 1 group [3

  6. In-plane and out-of-plane bending tests on carbon steel pipe bends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brouard, D.; Tremblais, A.; Vrillon, B.

    1979-01-01

    The objectives of these tests were to obtain experimental results on bends behaviour in elastic and plastic regime by in plane and out of plane bending. Results were used to improve the computer model, for large distorsion of bends, to be used in a simplified beam type computer code for piping calculations. Tests were made on type ANSI B 169 DN 5 bends in ASTM A 106 Grade B carbon steel. These tests made it possible to measure, for identical bends, in elastic regime, the flexibility factors and, in plastic regime, the total evolution in opening, in closing and out of plane. Flexibility factors of 180 0 bend without flanges are approximately the same in opening and in closing. The end effect due to flanges is not very significant, but it is important for 90 0 bends. In plastic regime, collapse loads or collapse moments of bends depends also of both the end effects and the angle bend. The end effects and the angle bend are more sensitive in opening than in closing. The interest of these tests is to procure some precise evolution curves of identical bends well characterized in geometry and metal strength, deflected in large distorsions. (orig./HP)

  7. Orientifold Planes, Type I Wilson Lines and Non-BPS D-branes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hyakutake, Y.; Imamura, Y.; Sugimoto, S.

    2000-01-01

    There is a longstanding puzzle concerned with the existence of Op-planes with p≥6, which are orientifold p-planes of negative charge with stuck Dp-branes. We study the consistency of configurations with various orientifold planes and propose a resolution to this puzzle. It is argued that O6-planes are possible in massive IIA theory with odd cosmological constant, while O7-planes and O8-planes are not allowed. Various relations between orientifold planes and non-BPS D-branes are also addressed. (author)

  8. Orientifold Planes, Type I Wilson Lines and Non-BPS D-branes

    OpenAIRE

    Hyakutake, Yoshifumi; Imamura, Yosuke; Sugimoto, Shigeki

    2000-01-01

    There is a longstanding puzzle concerned with the existence of Op~-planes with p>=6, which are orientifold p-planes of negative charge with stuck Dp-branes. We study the consistency of configurations with various orientifold planes and propose a resolution to this puzzle. It is argued that O6~-planes are possible in massive IIA theory with odd cosmological constant, while O7~-planes and O8~-planes are not allowed. Various relations between orientifold planes and non-BPS D-branes are also addr...

  9. Miniaturized Fourier-plane fiber scanner for OCT endoscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vilches, Sergio; Kretschmer, Simon; Ataman, Çağlar; Zappe, Hans

    2017-01-01

    A forward-looking endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) probe featuring a Fourier-plane fiber scanner is designed, manufactured and characterized. In contrast to common image-plane fiber scanners, the Fourier-plane scanner is a telecentric arrangement that eliminates vignetting and spatial resolution variations across the image plane. To scan the OCT beam in a spiral pattern, a tubular piezoelectric actuator is used to resonate an optical fiber bearing a collimating GRIN lens at its tip. The free-end of the GRIN lens sits at the back focal plane of an objective lens, such that its rotation replicates the beam angles in the collimated region of a classical telecentric 4f optical system. Such an optical arrangement inherently has a low numerical aperture combined with a relatively large field-of-view, rendering it particularly useful for endoscopic OCT imaging. Furthermore, the optical train of the Fourier-plane scanner is shorter than that of a comparable image-plane scanner by one focal length of the objective lens, significantly shortening the final arrangement. As a result, enclosed within a 3D printed housing of 2.5 mm outer diameter and 15 mm total length, the developed probe is the most compact forward-looking endoscopic OCT imager to date. Due to its compact form factor and compatibility with real-time OCT imaging, the developed probe is also ideal for use in the working channel of flexible endoscopes as a potential optical biopsy tool. (paper)

  10. Miniaturized Fourier-plane fiber scanner for OCT endoscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilches, Sergio; Kretschmer, Simon; Ataman, Çağlar; Zappe, Hans

    2017-10-01

    A forward-looking endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) probe featuring a Fourier-plane fiber scanner is designed, manufactured and characterized. In contrast to common image-plane fiber scanners, the Fourier-plane scanner is a telecentric arrangement that eliminates vignetting and spatial resolution variations across the image plane. To scan the OCT beam in a spiral pattern, a tubular piezoelectric actuator is used to resonate an optical fiber bearing a collimating GRIN lens at its tip. The free-end of the GRIN lens sits at the back focal plane of an objective lens, such that its rotation replicates the beam angles in the collimated region of a classical telecentric 4f optical system. Such an optical arrangement inherently has a low numerical aperture combined with a relatively large field-of-view, rendering it particularly useful for endoscopic OCT imaging. Furthermore, the optical train of the Fourier-plane scanner is shorter than that of a comparable image-plane scanner by one focal length of the objective lens, significantly shortening the final arrangement. As a result, enclosed within a 3D printed housing of 2.5 mm outer diameter and 15 mm total length, the developed probe is the most compact forward-looking endoscopic OCT imager to date. Due to its compact form factor and compatibility with real-time OCT imaging, the developed probe is also ideal for use in the working channel of flexible endoscopes as a potential optical biopsy tool.

  11. Fascia iliaca block, for fractured femur, in Emergency Departments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.A. Majeed*

    2013-12-01

    Discussion: We have traditionally been using opiates for severe pain but they don’t come without side effects, especially the elderly group takes most of the blow. As discussed above, NOF fracture makes a significant number of patients presenting to ED. Therefore having a non-opiates based pain relief like FIB, makes it very useful. The above papers suggest a beneficial role of ultrasound guided FIB in femoral fractures either as an alternative or adjunct to the routinely used analgesia. Evidence suggests that the placement of local anaesthetic in the wrong plane will reduce the success of any regional anaesthetic technique. The use of ultrasound guidance will permit the identification of the fascia iliaca and neurovascular bundle. It will also provide help in the needle guidance and direct observation of local anaesthetic spread in real time. Therefore the chances of effective block are extremely high when done under ultrasound guidance.

  12. An optimized microstructure to minimizing in-plane and through-plane pressure drops of fibrous materials: Counter-intuitive reduction of gas diffusion layer permeability with porosity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeghifar, Hamidreza

    2018-05-01

    The present study experimentally investigates the realistic functionality of in-plane and through-plane pressure drops of layered fibrous media with porosity, fiber diameter, fiber spacing, fiber-fiber angles and fiber-flow angles. The study also reveals that pressure drop may increase with porosity and fiber diameter under specific circumstances. This counter-intuitive point narrows down the validity range of widely-used permeability-porosity-diameter models or correlations. It is found that, for fibrous materials, the most important parameter that impacts the in-plane pressure drop is not their porosities but the number of fibers extended in the flow direction. It is also concluded that in-plane pressure drop is highly dependent upon the flow direction (fiber-flow angles), especially at lower porosities. Contrary to in-plane pressure drop, through-plane pressure drop is a weak function of fiber-fiber angles but is strongly impacted by fiber spacing, especially at lower porosities. At a given porosity, low through-plane pressure drops occur if fiber spacing does not change practically from one layer to another. Through-plane pressure drop also, insignificantly, increases with the intersecting angles between fibers. An optimized microstructure of fibrous media resulting in minimal in-plane and through-plane pressure drops is also offered for the first time in this work.

  13. Constructive curves in non-Euclidean planes

    OpenAIRE

    Horváth, Ákos G.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we overview the theory of conics and roulettes in four non-Euclidean planes. We collect the literature about these classical concepts, from the eighteenth century to the present, including papers available only on arXiv. The comparison of the four non-Euclidean planes, in terms of the known results on conics and roulettes, reflects only the very subjective view of the author.

  14. Influence of anchor block size on the thickness of adsorbed block copolymer layers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Belder, G.F; ten Brinke, G.; Hadziioannou, G

    1997-01-01

    We present surface force data on three different polystyrene/poly(2-vinylpyridine) block copolymers (PS/P2VP) with a fixed size of the nonadsorbing PS block but widely varying sizes of the adsorbing P2VP block. With respect to the sizes of the two blocks, they range from moderately to highly

  15. A Study of the Gamma-Ray Burst Fundamental Plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dainotti, M. G.; Hernandez, X.; Postnikov, S.; Nagataki, S.; O’brien, P.; Willingale, R.; Striegel, S.

    2017-01-01

    Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a plateau phase in their X-ray afterglows obey a 3D relation, between the rest-frame time at the end of the plateau, T a , its corresponding X-ray luminosity, L a , and the peak luminosity in the prompt emission, L peak . This 3D relation identifies a GRB fundamental plane whose existence we here confirm. Here we include the most recent GRBs observed by Swift to define a “gold sample” (45 GRBs) and obtain an intrinsic scatter about the plane compatible within 1 σ with the previous result. We compare GRB categories, such as short GRBs with extended emission (SEE), X-ray flashes, GRBs associated with supernovae, a sample of only long-duration GRBs (132), selected from the total sample by excluding GRBs of the previous categories, and the gold sample, composed by GRBs with light curves with good data coverage and relatively flat plateaus. We find that the relation planes for each of these categories are not statistically different from the gold fundamental plane, with the exception of the SSE, which are hence identified as a physically distinct class. The gold fundamental plane has an intrinsic scatter smaller than any plane derived from the other sample categories. Thus, the distance of any particular GRB category from this plane becomes a key parameter. We computed the several category planes with T a as a dependent parameter obtaining for each category smaller intrinsic scatters (reaching a reduction of 24% for the long GRBs). The fundamental plane is independent from several prompt and afterglow parameters.

  16. Phase Plane Analysis Method of Nonlinear Traffic Phenomena

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenhuan Ai

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A new phase plane analysis method for analyzing the complex nonlinear traffic phenomena is presented in this paper. This method makes use of variable substitution to transform a traditional traffic flow model into a new model which is suitable for the analysis in phase plane. According to the new model, various traffic phenomena, such as the well-known shock waves, rarefaction waves, and stop-and-go waves, are analyzed in the phase plane. From the phase plane diagrams, we can see the relationship between traffic jams and system instability. So the problem of traffic flow could be converted into that of system stability. The results show that the traffic phenomena described by the new method is consistent with that described by traditional methods. Moreover, the phase plane analysis highlights the unstable traffic phenomena we are chiefly concerned about and describes the variation of density or velocity with time or sections more clearly.

  17. Combined KHFAC + DC nerve block without onset or reduced nerve conductivity after block

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franke, Manfred; Vrabec, Tina; Wainright, Jesse; Bhadra, Niloy; Bhadra, Narendra; Kilgore, Kevin

    2014-10-01

    Objective. Kilohertz frequency alternating current (KHFAC) waveforms have been shown to provide peripheral nerve conductivity block in many acute and chronic animal models. KHFAC nerve block could be used to address multiple disorders caused by neural over-activity, including blocking pain and spasticity. However, one drawback of KHFAC block is a transient activation of nerve fibers during the initiation of the nerve block, called the onset response. The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using charge balanced direct current (CBDC) waveforms to temporarily block motor nerve conductivity distally to the KHFAC electrodes to mitigate the block onset-response. Approach. A total of eight animals were used in this study. A set of four animals were used to assess feasibility and reproducibility of a combined KHFAC + CBDC block. A following randomized study, conducted on a second set of four animals, compared the onset response resulting from KHFAC alone and combined KHFAC + CBDC waveforms. To quantify the onset, peak forces and the force-time integral were measured during KHFAC block initiation. Nerve conductivity was monitored throughout the study by comparing muscle twitch forces evoked by supra-maximal stimulation proximal and distal to the block electrodes. Each animal of the randomized study received at least 300 s (range: 318-1563 s) of cumulative dc to investigate the impact of combined KHFAC + CBDC on nerve viability. Main results. The peak onset force was reduced significantly from 20.73 N (range: 18.6-26.5 N) with KHFAC alone to 0.45 N (range: 0.2-0.7 N) with the combined CBDC and KHFAC block waveform (p conductivity was observed after application of the combined KHFAC + CBDC block relative to KHFAC waveforms. Significance. The distal application of CBDC can significantly reduce or even completely prevent the KHFAC onset response without a change in nerve conductivity.

  18. Plane wave limits and T-duality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guven, R.

    2000-04-01

    The Penrose limit is generalized to show that, any leading order solution of the low-energy field equations in any one of the five string theories has a plane wave solution as a limit. This limiting procedure takes into account all the massless fields that may arise and commutes with the T-duality so that any dual solution has again a plane wave limit. The scaling rules used in the limit are unique and stem from the scaling property of the D = 11 supergravity action. Although the leading order dual solutions need not be exact or supersymmetric, their plane wave limits always preserve some portion of the Poincare supersymmetry and solve the relevant field equations in all powers of the string tension parameter. Further properties of the limiting procedure are discussed. (author)

  19. Optically sectioned imaging by oblique plane microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sunil; Lin, Ziduo; Lyon, Alex R.; MacLeod, Ken T.; Dunsby, Chris

    2011-03-01

    Oblique Plane Microscopy (OPM) is a light sheet microscopy technique that combines oblique illumination with correction optics that tilt the focal plane of the collection system. OPM can be used to image conventionally mounted specimens on coverslips or tissue culture dishes and has low out-of-plane photobleaching and phototoxicity. No moving parts are required to achieve an optically sectioned image and so high speed optically sectioned imaging is possible. The first OPM results obtained using a high NA water immersion lens on a commercially available inverted microscope frame are presented, together with a measurement of the achievable optical resolution.

  20. Occlusal plane location in edentulous patients: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shetty, Sanath; Zargar, Nazia Majeed; Shenoy, Kamalakanth; Rekha, V

    2013-09-01

    Occlusal plane orientation is an important factor in the construction of a complete denture. Occlusal plane could be oriented using landmarks in the mandibular arch as well as in the maxillary arch. In the mandibular arch there are few landmarks which could be used to orient the occlusal plane like the retromolar pad, corner of the lips (lower lip length) whereas the maxillary arch has a number of landmarks, of which the ala-tragal line is the most commonly used and the same being the most controversial. In the following article different landmarks and its accuracy for orientating the occlusal plane in an edentulous subject as studied by various authors has been discussed.

  1. 16-dimensional smooth projective planes with large collineation groups

    OpenAIRE

    Bödi, Richard

    1998-01-01

    Erworben im Rahmen der Schweizer Nationallizenzen (http://www.nationallizenzen.ch) Smooth projective planes are projective planes defined on smooth manifolds (i.e. the set of points and the set of lines are smooth manifolds) such that the geometric operations of join and intersection are smooth. A systematic study of such planes and of their collineation groups can be found in previous works of the author. We prove in this paper that a 16-dimensional smooth projective plane which admits a ...

  2. Comparative analysis of the pressure profilometry of vesicocutaneous continent catheterizable conduits between patients with and without rectus abdominis neosphincter (Yachia principle).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rondon, Atila; Leslie, Bruno; Arcuri, Leonardo Javier; Ortiz, Valdemar; Macedo, Antonio

    2015-09-01

    To assess whether crossing rectus abdominis muscle strips, as proposed by Yachia, would change urinary catheterizable conduit's pressure profilometry, in static and dynamic conditions. Non-randomized selection of 20 continent patients that underwent Macedo's ileum-based reservoir, 10 including Yachia's technique (Study Group) and 10 without this mechanism of continence (Control Group). Demographics and cystometric data were assessed. Conduit's pressure profilometry was obtained by infusing saline through a multichannel catheter, at rest and during Valsalva maneuver. We assessed the pressure: (a) in the bladder; (b) in conduit's proximal segment; and (c) in conduit's distal segment, which is presumably the abdominal wall and crossed muscle strips site. Mean age at surgery was 6.1 years in the Control Group and 7.7 years in the Study Group. There was no statistically significant difference between groups regarding maximum cystometric bladder capacity and leakage point pressure. At rest, the pressure profilometry showed similar results between groups in all segments analyzed. During Valsalva maneuver, pressure profilometry showed similar results between groups in bladder and conduit's proximal segment pressure. In this condition, conduit's distal segment pressure in the Study Group (Mean = 72.9 and Peak = 128.7 cmH2 O) was significantly greater (P continence. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. A comprehensive model for in-plane and out-of-plane vibration of CANDU fuel endplate rings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, S.D., E-mail: syu@ryerson.ca; Fadaee, M.

    2016-08-01

    Highlights: • Proposed an effective method for modelling bending and torsional vibration of CANDU fuel endplate rings. • Applied successfully the thick plate theory to curved structural members by accounting for the transverse shear effect. • The proposed method is computationally more efficient compared to the 3D finite element. - Abstract: In this paper, a comprehensive vibration model is developed for analysing in-plane and out-of-plane vibration of CANDU fuel endplate rings by taking into consideration the effects of in-plane extension in the circumferential and radial directions, shear, and rotatory inertia. The model is based on Reddy’s thick plate theory and the nine-node isoparametric Lagrangian plate finite elements. Natural frequencies of various modes of vibration of circular rings obtained using the proposed method are compared with 3D finite element results, experimental data and results available in the literature. Excellent agreement was achieved.

  4. Coupled Chiral Structure in Graphene-Based Film for Ultrahigh Thermal Conductivity in Both In-Plane and Through-Plane Directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Xin; Pan, Hui; Zhu, Chengling; Chen, Zhixin; Lu, Tao; Xu, Da; Li, Yao; Zhu, Shenmin

    2018-06-21

    The development of high-performance thermal management materials to dissipate excessive heat both in plane and through plane is of special interest to maintain efficient operation and prolong the life of electronic devices. Herein, we designed and constructed a graphene-based composite film, which contains chiral liquid crystals (cellulose nanocrystals, CNCs) inside graphene oxide (GO). The composite film was prepared by annealing and compacting of self-assembled GO-CNC, which contains chiral smectic liquid crystal structures. The helical arranged nanorods of carbonized CNC act as in-plane connections, which bridge neighboring graphene sheets. More interestingly, the chiral structures also act as through-plane connections, which bridge the upper and lower graphene layers. As a result, the graphene-based composite film shows extraordinary thermal conductivity, in both in-plane (1820.4 W m -1 K -1 ) and through-plane (4.596 W m -1 K -1 ) directions. As a thermal management material, the heat dissipation and transportation behaviors of the composite film were investigated using a self-heating system and the results showed that the real-time temperature of the heater covered with the film was 44.5 °C lower than a naked heater. The prepared film shows a much higher efficiency of heat transportation than the commonly used thermal conductive Cu foil. Additionally, this graphene-based composite film exhibits excellent mechanical strength of 31.6 MPa and an electrical conductivity of 667.4 S cm -1 . The strategy reported here may open a new avenue to the development of high-performance thermal management films.

  5. Data-plane Defenses against Routing Attacks on Tor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tan Henry

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Tor is susceptible to traffic correlation attacks in which an adversary who observes flows entering and leaving the anonymity network can apply statistical techniques to correlate flows and de-anonymize their endpoints. While an adversary may not be naturally positioned to conduct such attacks, a recent study shows that the Internet’s control-plane can be manipulated to increase an adversary’s view of the network, and consequently, improve its ability to perform traffic correlation. This paper explores, in-depth, the effects of control-plane attacks on the security of the Tor network. Using accurate models of the live Tor network, we quantify Tor’s susceptibility to these attacks by measuring the fraction of the Tor network that is vulnerable and the advantage to the adversary of performing the attacks. We further propose defense mechanisms that protect Tor users from manipulations at the control-plane. Perhaps surprisingly, we show that by leveraging existing trust anchors in Tor, defenses deployed only in the data-plane are sufficient to detect most control-plane attacks. Our defenses do not assume the active participation of Internet Service Providers, and require only very small changes to Tor. We show that our defenses result in a more than tenfold decrease in the effectiveness of certain control-plane attacks.

  6. Positivity properties of phase-plane distribution functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janssen, A.J.E.M.

    1984-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to compare the members of Cohen's class of phase-plane distributions with respect to positivity properties. It is known that certain averages (which are in a sense compatible with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) of the Wigner distribution over the phase-plane yield

  7. Bilinear phase-plane distribution functions and positivity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janssen, A.J.E.M.

    1985-01-01

    There is a theorem of Wigner that states that phase-plane distribution functions involving the state bilinearly and having correct marginals must take negative values for certain states. The purpose of this paper is to support the statement that these phase-plane distribution functions are for

  8. Simultaneous orthogonal plane imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mickevicius, Nikolai J; Paulson, Eric S

    2017-11-01

    Intrafraction motion can result in a smearing of planned external beam radiation therapy dose distributions, resulting in an uncertainty in dose actually deposited in tissue. The purpose of this paper is to present a pulse sequence that is capable of imaging a moving target at a high frame rate in two orthogonal planes simultaneously for MR-guided radiotherapy. By balancing the zero gradient moment on all axes, slices in two orthogonal planes may be spatially encoded simultaneously. The orthogonal slice groups may be acquired with equal or nonequal echo times. A Cartesian spoiled gradient echo simultaneous orthogonal plane imaging (SOPI) sequence was tested in phantom and in vivo. Multiplexed SOPI acquisitions were performed in which two parallel slices were imaged along two orthogonal axes simultaneously. An autocalibrating phase-constrained 2D-SENSE-GRAPPA (generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition) algorithm was implemented to reconstruct the multiplexed data. SOPI images without intraslice motion artifacts were reconstructed at a maximum frame rate of 8.16 Hz. The 2D-SENSE-GRAPPA reconstruction separated the parallel slices aliased along each orthogonal axis. The high spatiotemporal resolution provided by SOPI has the potential to be beneficial for intrafraction motion management during MR-guided radiation therapy or other MRI-guided interventions. Magn Reson Med 78:1700-1710, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  9. Study on the unified constraint parameter for characterizing in-plane and out-of-plane constraint based on the equivalent plastic strain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Jie; Wang Guozhen; Xuan Fuzhen; Tu Shandong

    2013-01-01

    Background: Constraint can significantly alter the material's fracture toughness. Purpose: In order to increase accuracy of the structural integrity assessment. It needs to consider the effect of constraint on the fracture toughness of nuclear power materials and structures. A unified measure which can reflect both in-plane and out-of-plane constraint is needed. Methods: In this paper, the finite element numerical simulation method was used, a unified measure and characterization parameter of in-plane and out-of-plane constraint based on crack-tip equivalent plastic strain have been investigated. Results: The results show that the area surrounded by ε p isoline has a good relevance with the material's fracture toughness on different constraint conditions, so it may be a suitable parameter. Based on the area A PEEQ , a unified constraint characterization parameter √A p is defined. It was found that there exists a sole linear relation between the normalized fracture toughness J IC /J re f and √A p regardless of the in-plane, out-of-plane constraint and the selection of the p isolines. The sole J IC /J re f-√A p line exists for a certain material. For different materials, the slope of J IC /J re f-√A p reference line is different. The material whose slope is larger has a higher J IC /J re f and is more sensitive to constraint at the same magnitude of normalized unified parameter. Conclusions: The unified J IC /J re f -√A p reference line may be used to assess the safety of a cracked component with any constraint levels regardless of in-plane or out-of-plane constraint or both. (authors)

  10. Fermion-scalar conformal blocks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Iliesiu, Luca [Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University,Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Kos, Filip [Department of Physics, Yale University,217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Poland, David [Department of Physics, Yale University,217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study,1 Einstein Dr, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States); Pufu, Silviu S. [Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University,Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Simmons-Duffin, David [School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study,1 Einstein Dr, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States); Yacoby, Ran [Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University,Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

    2016-04-13

    We compute the conformal blocks associated with scalar-scalar-fermion-fermion 4-point functions in 3D CFTs. Together with the known scalar conformal blocks, our result completes the task of determining the so-called ‘seed blocks’ in three dimensions. Conformal blocks associated with 4-point functions of operators with arbitrary spins can now be determined from these seed blocks by using known differential operators.

  11. The Curious Out-of-Plane Conductivity of PEDOT : PSS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van de Ruit, Kevin; Katsouras, Ilias; Bollen, Dirk; van Mol, Ton; Janssen, Rene A. J.; de Leeuw, Dago M.; Kemerink, Martijn

    2013-01-01

    For its application as transparent conductor in light-emitting diodes and photovoltaic cells, both the in-plane and out-of-plane conductivity of PEDOT:PSS are important. However, studies into the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS rarely address the out-of-plane conductivity and those that do, report widely

  12. Block Cipher Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miolane, Charlotte Vikkelsø

    ensurethat no attack violatesthe securitybounds specifiedbygeneric attack namely exhaustivekey search and table lookup attacks. This thesis contains a general introduction to cryptography with focus on block ciphers and important block cipher designs, in particular the Advanced Encryption Standard(AES...... on small scale variants of AES. In the final part of the thesis we present a new block cipher proposal Present and examine its security against algebraic and differential cryptanalysis in particular....

  13. A Study of the Gamma-Ray Burst Fundamental Plane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dainotti, M. G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stanford University, Via Pueblo Mall 382, Stanford, CA 94305-4060 (United States); Hernandez, X. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, México (Mexico); Postnikov, S. [The Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States); Nagataki, S. [RIKEN, Hirosawa, Wako Saitama (Japan); O’brien, P.; Willingale, R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Road Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); Striegel, S., E-mail: mdainott@stanford.edu, E-mail: dainotti@oa.uj.edu.pl, E-mail: mariagiovannadainotti@yahoo.it, E-mail: xavier@astro.unam.mx, E-mail: postsergey@gmail.com, E-mail: shigehiro.nagataki@riken.jp, E-mail: zrw@le.ac.uk, E-mail: stephanie.striegel@sjsu.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192 (United States)

    2017-10-20

    Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a plateau phase in their X-ray afterglows obey a 3D relation, between the rest-frame time at the end of the plateau, T {sub a} , its corresponding X-ray luminosity, L {sub a} , and the peak luminosity in the prompt emission, L {sub peak}. This 3D relation identifies a GRB fundamental plane whose existence we here confirm. Here we include the most recent GRBs observed by Swift to define a “gold sample” (45 GRBs) and obtain an intrinsic scatter about the plane compatible within 1 σ with the previous result. We compare GRB categories, such as short GRBs with extended emission (SEE), X-ray flashes, GRBs associated with supernovae, a sample of only long-duration GRBs (132), selected from the total sample by excluding GRBs of the previous categories, and the gold sample, composed by GRBs with light curves with good data coverage and relatively flat plateaus. We find that the relation planes for each of these categories are not statistically different from the gold fundamental plane, with the exception of the SSE, which are hence identified as a physically distinct class. The gold fundamental plane has an intrinsic scatter smaller than any plane derived from the other sample categories. Thus, the distance of any particular GRB category from this plane becomes a key parameter. We computed the several category planes with T {sub a} as a dependent parameter obtaining for each category smaller intrinsic scatters (reaching a reduction of 24% for the long GRBs). The fundamental plane is independent from several prompt and afterglow parameters.

  14. Testing of focal plane arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merriam, J.D.

    1988-01-01

    Problems associated with the testing of focal plane arrays are briefly examined with reference to the instrumentation and measurement procedures. In particular, the approach and instrumentation used as the Naval Ocean Systems Center is presented. Most of the measurements are made with flooded illumination on the focal plane array. The array is treated as an ensemble of individual pixels, data being taken on each pixel and array averages and standard deviations computed for the entire array. Data maps are generated, showing the pixel data in the proper spatial position on the array and the array statistics

  15. Main-chain supramolecular block copolymers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Si Kyung; Ambade, Ashootosh V; Weck, Marcus

    2011-01-01

    Block copolymers are key building blocks for a variety of applications ranging from electronic devices to drug delivery. The material properties of block copolymers can be tuned and potentially improved by introducing noncovalent interactions in place of covalent linkages between polymeric blocks resulting in the formation of supramolecular block copolymers. Such materials combine the microphase separation behavior inherent to block copolymers with the responsiveness of supramolecular materials thereby affording dynamic and reversible materials. This tutorial review covers recent advances in main-chain supramolecular block copolymers and describes the design principles, synthetic approaches, advantages, and potential applications.

  16. Ultrasound guided supraclavicular block.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Hanumanthaiah, Deepak

    2013-09-01

    Ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia is becoming increasingly popular. The supraclavicular block has been transformed by ultrasound guidance into a potentially safe superficial block. We reviewed the techniques of performing supraclavicular block with special focus on ultrasound guidance.

  17. Experimental investigation on in-plane/out-of-plane vortex-induced vibrations of curved cylinder in parallel and perpendicular flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinil, Narakorn; Ma, Bowen; Zhang, Licong

    2018-05-01

    This study is motivated by an industrial need to better understand the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a curved structure subject to current flows with varying directions whose data for model calibration and validation are lacking. In this paper, new experimental investigations on the two-degree-of-freedom in-plane/out-of-plane VIV of a rigid curved circular cylinder immersed in steady and uniform free-stream flows are presented. The principal objective is to examine how the approaching flow direction versus the cylinder curvature plane affects cross-flow and in-line VIV and the associated hydrodynamic properties. This is achieved by testing the curved cylinder in 3 different flow orientations comprising the parallel flows aligned with the curvature vertical plane in convex and concave configurations, and the flows perpendicular to the curvature plane. The case of varying flow velocities in a subcritical flow range with a maximum Reynolds number of about 50,000 is considered for the curved cylinder with a low mass ratio and damping ratio. Experimental results are presented and discussed in terms of the cylinder response amplitudes, inclination angles, mean displacements, motion trajectories, oscillation frequencies, hydrodynamic forces, relative phases, fluid excitation and added inertia coefficients. Comparisons with other experimental results of curved and straight cylinder VIV are also presented. The experiments highlight the important effects of cylinder curvature versus flow orientation on the combined cross-flow/in-line VIV. The maximum (minimum) responses occur in the perpendicular (convex) flow case whereas the extended lower-branch responses occur in the concave flow case. For perpendicular flows, some meaningful features are observed, including the appearances of cross-flow mean displacements and asymmetric eight-shaped motion trajectories due to multiple 2:1:1 resonances where two out-of-plane and one in-plane dominant frequencies are simultaneously

  18. Phase formation and strain relaxation of Ga2O3 on c-plane and a-plane sapphire substrates as studied by synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Zongzhe; Hanke, Michael; Vogt, Patrick; Bierwagen, Oliver; Trampert, Achim

    2017-10-01

    Heteroepitaxial Ga2O3 was deposited on c-plane and a-plane oriented sapphire by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy and probed by ex-situ and in-situ synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction. The investigation on c-plane sapphire determined a critical thickness of around 33 Å, at which the monoclinic β-phase forms on top of the hexagonal α-phase. A 143 Å thick single phase α-Ga2O3 was observed on a-plane sapphire, much thicker than the α-Ga2O3 on c-plane sapphire. The α-Ga2O3 relaxed very fast in the first 30 Å in both out-of-plane and in-plane directions as measured by the in-situ study.

  19. In-plane and perpendicular exchange bias in [Pt/Co]/NiO multilayers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, K.W.; Guo, J.Y.; Chang, S.C.; Ouyang, H. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402 (China); Kahwaji, S.; Van Lierop, J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2 (Canada); Phuoc, N.N.; Suzuki, T. [Information Storage Materials Laboratory, Toyota Technological Institute, Nagoya 468-8511 (Japan)

    2007-12-15

    Exchange bias in [Pt/Co]/NiO multilayers were studied as a function of film thickness and [Pt/Co] layer repetition. A strong temperature dependence of the coercivity, H{sub c}, and exchange bias field, H{sub ex}, was observed for the thick and thinnest [Pt/Co]/NiO multilayers. While the thinnest [Pt(3 nm)/Co(1.25 nm)]{sub 4}/NiO multilayers exhibits no in-plane exchange bias field, a perpendicular H{sub ex} {sub perpendicular} {sub to} {proportional_to} -150 Oe at 80 K was measured. By contrast, the thickest [Pt(12 nm)/Co(10 nm)]{sub 1}/NiO multilayers exhibited an in-plane H{sub ex//}{proportional_to}-600 Oe (with H{sub ex//}{proportional_to}-1300 Oe at 5 K) with no measurable perpendicular exchange bias field. The estimated interfacial exchange coupling energy implies the effective Co layer thickness contributing to the exchange bias is effective only in Co layer in contact with NiO bottom layer. AC susceptibility and the temperature dependence of H{sub ex} show that the a 1.25 nm thick Co component enables perpendicular exchange bias with a reduced blocking temperature T{sub B}{proportional_to}200 K, compared to that (T{sub B}{proportional_to}250 K) for the thick [Pt/Co]/NiO multilayers. This is attributed to disordered CoPt phases that formed due to intermixing between Co and Pt during deposition. (copyright 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  20. On Finite Hjelmslev Planes of Parameters (pk−1, p)

    OpenAIRE

    Atilla Akpinar

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, we study on finite projective Hjelmslev planes M(Zq) coordinatized by Hjelmslev ring Zq (where prime power q = pk). We obtain finite hyperbolic Klingenberg planes from these planes under certain conditions. Also, we give a combinatorical result on M(Zq), related by deleting a line from lines in same neighbour.

  1. Two-transitive MInkowski planes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilbrink, H.A.

    1982-01-01

    In this paper we determine all finite Minkowski planes with an automorphism group which satisfies the following transitivity property: any ordered pair of nonparallel points can be mapped onto any other ordered pair of nonparallel points.

  2. Two-plane symmetry in the structural organization of man.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ermolenko, A E

    2005-01-01

    Manifestations of symmetry in the human structural organization in ontogenesis and phylogenetic development are analysed. A concept of macrobiocrystalloid with inherent complex symmetry is proposed for the description of the human organism in its integrity. The symmetry can be characterized as two-plane radial (quadrilateral), where the planar symmetry is predominant while the layout of organs of radial symmetry is subordinated to it. Out of the two planes of symmetry (sagittal and horizontal), the sagittal plane is predominant: (a) the location of the organs is governed by two principles: in compliance with the symmetry planes and in compliance with the radial symmetry around cavities; (b) the location of the radial symmetry organs is also governed by the principle of two-plane symmetry; (c) out of the four antimeres of two-plane symmetry, two are paired while the other two have merged into one organ; (d) some organs which are antimeres relative to the horizontal plane are located at the cranial end of the organism (sensory organs, cerebrum-cerebellum, heart-spleen and others). The two-plane symmetry is formed by two mechanisms--(a) the impact of morphogenetic fields of the whole crystalloid organism during embriogenesis and (b) genetic mechanisms of the development of chromosomes having two-plane symmetry. When comparing mineral and biological entities we should consider not the whole immobile crystal but only the active superficial part of a growing or dissolving crystal, the interface between the crystal surface and the crystal-forming environment which directly controls crystal growth and adapts itself to it, as well as crystal feed stock expressed in the structure of concentration flows. The symmetry of the chromosome, of the embrion at the early stages of cell cleavage as well as of some organs and systems in their phylogenetic development is described.

  3. ARC Code TI: X-Plane Communications Toolbox (XPC)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The X-Plane Communications Toolbox (XPC) is an open source research tool used to interact with the commercial flight simulator software X-Plane. XPC allows users to...

  4. SU-E-T-53: Benchmarking a Monte Carlo Model for Patient Plane Leakage Calculations of Low Energy 6MV Unique Linacs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Constantin, M; Sawkey, D; Johnsen, S; Hsu, H [Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To validate the physics parameters of a Monte Carlo model for patient plane leakage calculations on the 6MV Unique linac by comparing the simulations against IEC patient plane leakage measurements. The benchmarked model can further be used for shielding design optimization, to predict leakage in the proximity of intended treatment fields, reduce the system weight and cost, and improve components reliability. Methods: The treatment head geometry of the Unique linac was simulated in Geant4 (v9.4.p02 with “Opt3” standard electromagnetic physics list) based on CAD drawings of all collimation and shielding components projected from the target to the area within 2m from isocenter. A 4×4m2 scorer was inserted 1m from the target in the patient plane and multiple phase space files were recorded by performing a 40-node computing cluster simulation on the EC2 cloud. The photon energy fluence was calculated relative to the value at isocenter for a 10×10cm2 field using 10×10mm2 bins. Tungsten blocks were parked accordingly to represent MLC120. The secondary particle contamination to patient plane was eliminated by “killing” those particles prior to the primary collimator entrance using a “kill-plane”, which represented the upper head shielding components not being modeled. Both IEC patient-plane leakage and X/Y-jaws transmission were simulated. Results: The contribution of photons to energy fluence was 0.064% on average, in excellent agreement with the experimental data available at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5m from isocenter, characterized by an average leakage of 0.045% and a maximum leakage of 0.085%. X- and Y-jaws transmissions of 0.43% and 0.44% were found in good agreement with measurements of 0.48% and 0.43%, respectively. Conclusion: A Geant4 model based on energy fluence calculations for the 6MV Unique linac was created and validated using IEC patient plane leakage measurements. The “kill-plane” has effectively eliminated electron contamination to

  5. Instabilities of Kirkendall planes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dal, van M.J.H.; Gusak, A.M.; Cserhati, C.; Kodentsov, A.; Loo, van F.J.J.

    2001-01-01

    Reconsideration of the Kirkendall effect is presented. It is demonstrated (experimentally as well as theoretically) that Kirkendall planes can be multiple, stable or unstable within a single-phase reaction zone. A general criterion of instabilty is given.

  6. In-plane fluidelastic instability analysis for large steam generators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mureithi, Njuki; Olala, Stephen; Hadji, Abdallah

    2015-01-01

    Fluidelastic instability remains the most important vibration excitation mechanism in nuclear steam generators (SGs). Design guidelines, aimed at eliminating the possibility of fluidelastic instability, have been developed over the past 40 years. The design guidelines, based on the Connors equation, depend on a large database on cross-flow fluidelastic instability i.e. instability in the direction transverse to the flow. Past experience had shown that for an axi-symmetrically flexible tube, instability generally occurred in the transverse direction, at least at first. Although often not explicitly stated, there has been an implicit assumption that the in-plane direction was either stable, or would only suffer instability at velocities significantly higher than the transverse direction. This explains why SGs are fitted with anti-vibrations bars (AVBs) to mitigate transverse (out-of-plane) vibrations with no equivalent consideration for potential in-plane instability. This 'oversight' recently came to a head when SG at the San-Onofre NPP suffered in-plane fluidelastic instability. The present paper addresses the question of in-plane fluidelastic instability in large SGs. A historical review is presented to explain why this potential problem was left unresolved (or ignored) over the past 40+ years, and why engineers got away with it - at least until recently. Following the review, some recent work on in-plane fluidelastic instability modeling, using the quasi-steady model is presented. It is shown that in-plane fluidelastic instability can be fully modelled using this approach. The model results are used to propose some changes to existing design guidelines to cover the case of in-plane fluidelastic instability. (author)

  7. EMG activity of hip and trunk muscles during deep-water running.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaneda, Koichi; Sato, Daisuke; Wakabayashi, Hitoshi; Nomura, Takeo

    2009-12-01

    The present study used synchronized motion analysis to investigate the activity of hip and trunk muscles during deep-water running (DWR) relative to land walking (LW) and water walking (WW). Nine healthy men performed each exercise at self-determined slow, moderate, and fast paces, and surface electromyography was used to investigate activity of the adductor longus, gluteus maxima, gluteus medius, rectus abdominis, oblique externus abdominis, and erector spinae. The following kinematic parameters were calculated: the duration of one cycle, range of motion (ROM) of the hip joint, and absolute angles of the pelvis and trunk with respect to the vertical axis in the sagittal plane. The percentages of maximal voluntary contraction (%MVC) of each muscle were higher during DWR than during LW and WW. The %MVC of the erector spinae during WW increased concomitant with the pace increment. The hip joint ROMs were larger in DWR than in LW and WW. Forward inclinations of the trunk were apparent for DWR and fast-paced WW. The pelvis was inclined forward in DWR and WW. In conclusion, the higher-level activities during DWR are affected by greater hip joint motion and body inclinations with an unstable floating situation.

  8. DLCQ and plane wave matrix Big Bang models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blau, Matthias; O'Loughlin, Martin

    2008-09-01

    We study the generalisations of the Craps-Sethi-Verlinde matrix big bang model to curved, in particular plane wave, space-times, beginning with a careful discussion of the DLCQ procedure. Singular homogeneous plane waves are ideal toy-models of realistic space-time singularities since they have been shown to arise universally as their Penrose limits, and we emphasise the role played by the symmetries of these plane waves in implementing the flat space Seiberg-Sen DLCQ prescription for these curved backgrounds. We then analyse various aspects of the resulting matrix string Yang-Mills theories, such as the relation between strong coupling space-time singularities and world-sheet tachyonic mass terms. In order to have concrete examples at hand, in an appendix we determine and analyse the IIA singular homogeneous plane wave - null dilaton backgrounds.

  9. DLCQ and plane wave matrix Big Bang models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blau, Matthias; O'Loughlin, Martin

    2008-01-01

    We study the generalisations of the Craps-Sethi-Verlinde matrix big bang model to curved, in particular plane wave, space-times, beginning with a careful discussion of the DLCQ procedure. Singular homogeneous plane waves are ideal toy-models of realistic space-time singularities since they have been shown to arise universally as their Penrose limits, and we emphasise the role played by the symmetries of these plane waves in implementing the flat space Seiberg-Sen DLCQ prescription for these curved backgrounds. We then analyse various aspects of the resulting matrix string Yang-Mills theories, such as the relation between strong coupling space-time singularities and world-sheet tachyonic mass terms. In order to have concrete examples at hand, in an appendix we determine and analyse the IIA singular homogeneous plane wave - null dilaton backgrounds.

  10. Adductor Canal Block versus Femoral Nerve Block and Quadriceps Strength

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jæger, Pia Therese; Nielsen, Zbigniew Jerzy Koscielniak; Henningsen, Lene Marianne

    2013-01-01

    : The authors hypothesized that the adductor canal block (ACB), a predominant sensory blockade, reduces quadriceps strength compared with placebo (primary endpoint, area under the curve, 0.5-6 h), but less than the femoral nerve block (FNB; secondary endpoint). Other secondary endpoints were...

  11. Asymmetric PS-block-(PS-co-PB)-block-PS block copolymers: morphology formation and deformation behaviour

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adhikari, Rameshwar; Huy, Trinh An; Buschnakowski, Matthias; Michler, Goerg H; Knoll, Konrad

    2004-01-01

    Morphology formation and deformation behaviour of asymmetric styrene/butadiene triblock copolymers (total polystyrene (PS) content ∼70%) consisting of PS outer blocks held apart by a styrene-co-butadiene random copolymer block (PS-co-PB) each were investigated. The techniques used were differential scanning calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy, uniaxial tensile testing and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A significant shift of the phase behaviour relative to that of a neat symmetric triblock copolymer was observed, which can be attributed to the asymmetric architecture and the presence of PS-co-PB as a soft block. The mechanical properties and the microdeformation phenomena were mainly controlled by the nature of their solid-state morphology. Independent of morphology type, the soft phase was found to deform to a significantly higher degree of orientation when compared with the hard phase

  12. Plane waves and spacelike infinity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marolf, Donald; Ross, Simon F

    2003-01-01

    In an earlier paper, we showed that the causal boundary of any homogeneous plane wave satisfying the null convergence condition consists of a single null curve. In Einstein-Hilbert gravity, this would include any homogeneous plane wave satisfying the weak null energy condition. For conformally flat plane waves such as the Penrose limit of AdS 5 x S 5 , all spacelike curves that reach infinity also end on this boundary and the completion is Hausdorff. However, the more generic case (including, e.g., the Penrose limits of AdS 4 x S 7 and AdS 7 x S 4 ) is more complicated. In one natural topology, not all spacelike curves have limit points in the causal completion, indicating the need to introduce additional points at 'spacelike infinity' - the endpoints of spacelike curves. We classify the distinct ways in which spacelike curves can approach infinity, finding a two-dimensional set of distinct limits. The dimensionality of the set of points at spacelike infinity is not, however, fixed from this argument. In an alternative topology, the causal completion is already compact, but the completion is non-Hausdorff

  13. Angle measures, general rotations, and roulettes in normed planes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balestro, Vitor; Horváth, Ákos G.; Martini, Horst

    2017-12-01

    In this paper a special group of bijective maps of a normed plane (or, more generally, even of a plane with a suitable Jordan curve as unit circle) is introduced which we call the group of general rotations of that plane. It contains the isometry group as a subgroup. The concept of general rotations leads to the notion of flexible motions of the plane, and to the concept of Minkowskian roulettes. As a nice consequence of this new approach to motions the validity of strong analogues to the Euler-Savary equations for Minkowskian roulettes is proved.

  14. Prevention of the adverse photic effects of peripheral light-focusing using UV-blocking contact lenses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwok, L Stephen; Kuznetsov, Valerian A; Ho, Arthur; Coroneo, Minas T

    2003-04-01

    Peripheral light-focusing (PLF) is an occult form of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) hazardous to the human eye. In PLF, obliquely incident light is refracted from the peripheral cornea to concentrated sites inside the anterior segment. In the current study, the directionality of this phenomenon for UVR and whether PLF is established in outdoor settings exposed to sunlight were investigated. The protection provided by a UV-blocking contact lens was also evaluated. UVA and UVB sensors were placed on the nasal limbus of an anatomically based model eye. The temporal limbus was exposed to a UV light source placed at various angles behind the frontal plane. PLF was quantified with the sensor output. The ensemble was mounted in the orbit of a mannequin head and exposed to sunlight in three insolation environments within the region of Sydney, Australia. PLF for UVA and UVB was determined with no eyewear or with sunglasses and commercially available soft contact lenses, with and without UV-blocking capability. The intensity of UVA peaked at approximately 120 degrees incidence, the level at which the UVB response was also at its maximum. The intensification of UVA was up to x18.3. The intensity of PLF for UVA and UVB was reduced by an order of magnitude by a UV-blocking contact lens, whereas a clear contact lenses had a much lesser effect. Only the UV-blocking contact lens achieved a significant effect on UVA and UVB irradiance in the urban, beach, and mountain locales (P UV-blocking soft contact lenses. Sunglasses may be unable to shield oblique rays, unless side protection is incorporated. Contact lenses can offer UVR protection against all angles of incidence, including the peak-response angle. They can also protect the eye in settings in which the wearing of sunglasses is not feasible or convenient.

  15. Adductor canal block versus femoral nerve block for analgesia after total knee arthroplasty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jaeger, Pia; Zaric, Dusanka; Fomsgaard, Jonna Storm

    2013-01-01

    Femoral nerve block (FNB), a commonly used postoperative pain treatment after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), reduces quadriceps muscle strength essential for mobilization. In contrast, adductor canal block (ACB) is predominately a sensory nerve block. We hypothesized that ACB preserves quadriceps...

  16. Block That Pain!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skip Navigation Bar Home Current Issue Past Issues Block That Pain! Past Issues / Fall 2007 Table of ... contrast, most pain relievers used for surgical procedures block activity in all types of neurons. This can ...

  17. Vacuum Predisperser For A Large Plane-Grating Spectrograph

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engleman, R.; Palmer, B. A.; Steinhaus, D. W.

    1980-11-01

    A plane grating predisperser has been constructed which acts as an "order-sorter" for a large plane-grating spectrograph. This combination can photograph relatively wide regions of spectra in a single exposure with no loss of resolution.

  18. Bundle Branch Block

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... known cause. Causes can include: Left bundle branch block Heart attacks (myocardial infarction) Thickened, stiffened or weakened ... myocarditis) High blood pressure (hypertension) Right bundle branch block A heart abnormality that's present at birth (congenital) — ...

  19. Vectorial and plane energy fluences - useful concepts in radiation physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlsson, C.A.

    1977-06-01

    The vectorial physical quantities describing the radiation field are defined in this report. The use of these quantities is rare in the radiation dosimetry literature since a knowledge of the directions of motion of the ionizing particle is often uninteresting when determining absorbed doses. However the plane energy fluence rate is a useful quantity in cases with plane irradiation geometries. The plane energy fluence rate is closely related to the vectorial energy fluence rate. The backscattering properties of a medium can be expressed in terms either of its albedo or its reflection-coefficient (backscatter-coefficient). These quantities are discussed in order to derive useful relations between the plane energy fluence and the energy fluence at points on an extended plane surface. Examples are also given of erroneous use of energy fluence instead of vectorial or plane energy fluence. The examples are taken from roentgen diagnostic examinations. To prevent further mistakes it could be valuable if the quantities of vectorial and plane fluences were introduced in text books in radiation dosimetry. Awaiting for this, this report may hopefully be useful. (E.R.)

  20. Quantitative compositional analysis and field-evaporation behavior of ordered Ni4Mo on an atomic plane-by-plane basis: an atom-probe field-ion microscope study. MSC report No. 4802

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, M.; Seidman, D.N.

    1982-10-01

    The (211) fundamental and (101) superlattice planes, of the bct lattice, were analysed chemically on an atomic plane-by-plane basis. It was demonstrated that the composition of each individual plane can be determined as a function of depth without any ambiguity. The overall average Mo concentration was measured to be 17.1 at. % for the (211) fundamental plane. Details of the field evaporation behavior of the (211) fundamental and (101) superlattice planes were studied. The field-evaporation behavior is described in terms of the field-evaporation rate, the order of the field evaporated ions, etc. Each individual atomic plane field evaporated on an atomic plane-by-plane basis for the (211) fundamental plane. While for (101) superlattice plane a group of planes consisting of one plane of Mo atoms and four planes of Ni atoms field-evaporated as a unit. An abnormal increase in the number of Mo atoms was found in the central portion of the (211) fundamental plane. Possible mechanisms for the abnormal field evaporation rate are discussed. It is concluded that the atom probe technique can be used to follow the physics and chemistry of the field-evaporation process and the chemistry of the alloy as a function of position, on a subnanometer scale, throughout the specimen. 13 figures

  1. Identification of Critical Transmission Limits in Injection Impedance Plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jóhannsson, Hjörtur; Østergaard, Jacob; Nielsen, Arne Hejde

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, equations are derived that describe the mapping of critical boundaries and characteristic lines from the three dimensionalPQV-surface into the two-dimensional injection impedance plane (load impedance plane for both positive and negativeresistance). The expressions derived....... The situational awareness method will bedescribed in a later paper, where this paper focuses on the derivations of some system characteristics in the injection (or load)impedance plane. The critical lines from the PQV-surface that are mapped into the impedance plane are the ones representing theconditions where...... the partial derivatives of the variables P,Q and V in respect to each other become zero. In addition to the mappingof the critical lines, some characteristic lines are mapped as well. These include the mapping of the lines of constant P,Q,Vand d from the PQV-surface into the impedance plane. All of the mapped...

  2. On spin and matrix models in the complex plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damgaard, P.H.; Heller, U.M.

    1993-01-01

    We describe various aspects of statistical mechanics defined in the complex temperature or coupling-constant plane. Using exactly solvable models, we analyse such aspects as renormalization group flows in the complex plane, the distribution of partition function zeros, and the question of new coupling-constant symmetries of complex-plane spin models. The double-scaling form of matrix models is shown to be exactly equivalent to finite-size scaling of two-dimensional spin systems. This is used to show that the string susceptibility exponents derived from matrix models can be obtained numerically with very high accuracy from the scaling of finite-N partition function zeros in the complex plane. (orig.)

  3. Thinking Outside the Block: An Innovative Alternative to 4X4 Block Scheduling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Myra

    2002-01-01

    Introduces a 4x1 block scheduling method that was developed as an alternative to 4x4 block scheduling. Schedules Fridays for summer school, test preparation, and enrichment and elective courses. Includes suggestions on how to alleviate drawbacks of the 4x1 block schedule. (YDS)

  4. Basic examination of in-plane spatial resolution in multi-slice CT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hara, Takanori; Kato, Hideki; Akiyama, Mitsutoshi; Murata, Katsutoshi

    2002-01-01

    In computed tomography (single-slice spiral CT, conventional CT), in-plane (x-y plane) spatial resolution is consistently identified as depending on the detector density of the in-plane (x-y plane). However, we considered that the in-plane (x-y plane) spatial resolution of multi-slice CT (MSCT) was influenced by an error in the detector's sensitivity to the Z-axis and by the frequency of use of direct row data and complementary row data when the image of spiral pitches (SP) was reconstructed. Our goal in this experiment was to analyze the relationship of the in-plane (x-y plane) spatial resolution of an asymmetric-type detector in MSCT to SP, tube current, and rotation time. By employing a tungsten wire phantom of 0.2 mm in diameter, we examined modulation transfer functions (MTF) by point-spread functions (PSF) of CT-images. Next, using the mean-square-root bandwidth theory, we analyzed the MTF of wire phantoms. The analysis of in-plane (x-y plane) spatial resolution revealed that various tube currents had no effect on the value of the mean-square-root bandwidth. However, rotation time and high spiral pitch did have an effect on mean-square-root bandwidth. Considering the results mentioned above, spiral pitch (z-axis reconstruction algorithm) had a slight effect on in-plane (x-y plane) spatial resolution of asymmetric-type detectors in MSCT. Accordingly, we proposed a new general view of VDDz (view/mm) in MSCT that considered view data density on the Z-axis according to spiral pitch (mm/rotation), rotation time (view/rotation), and slice collimation. (author)

  5. Distribution of short block copolymer chains in Binary Blends of Block Copolymers Having Hydrogen Bonding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwak, Jongheon; Han, Sunghyun; Kim, Jin Kon

    2014-03-01

    A binary mixture of two block copolymers whose blocks are capable of forming the hydrogen bonding allows one to obtain various microdomains that could not be expected for neat block copolymer. For instance, the binary blend of symmetric polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer (PS-b-P2VP) and polystyrene-block-polyhydroxystyrene copolymer (PS-b-PHS) blends where the hydrogen bonding occurred between P2VP and PHS showed hexagonally packed (HEX) cylindrical and body centered cubic (BCC) spherical microdomains. To know the exact location of short block copolymer chains at the interface, we synthesized deuterated polystyrene-block-polyhydroxystyrene copolymer (dPS-b-PHS) and prepared a binary mixture with PS-b-P2VP. We investigate, via small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and neutron reflectivity (NR), the exact location of shorter dPS block chain near the interface of the microdomains.

  6. Minimum Description Length Block Finder, a Method to Identify Haplotype Blocks and to Compare the Strength of Block Boundaries

    OpenAIRE

    Mannila, H.; Koivisto, M.; Perola, M.; Varilo, T.; Hennah, W.; Ekelund, J.; Lukk, M.; Peltonen, L.; Ukkonen, E.

    2003-01-01

    We describe a new probabilistic method for finding haplotype blocks that is based on the use of the minimum description length (MDL) principle. We give a rigorous definition of the quality of a segmentation of a genomic region into blocks and describe a dynamic programming algorithm for finding the optimal segmentation with respect to this measure. We also describe a method for finding the probability of a block boundary for each pair of adjacent markers: this gives a tool for evaluating the ...

  7. Discretization of superintegrable systems on a plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabát, Z.

    2012-02-01

    We construct difference analogues of so called Smorodinsky-Winternitz superintegrable systems in the Euclidean plane. Using methods of umbral calculus, we obtain difference equations for generalized isotropic harmonic oscillator on the uniform lattice, and also its solution in terms of power series. In the case of gauge-rotated Hamiltonian, the solution is a polynomial, well-defined in the whole plane.

  8. Slipping and Rolling on an Inclined Plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghamohammadi, Cina; Aghamohammadi, Amir

    2011-01-01

    In the first part of the paper, using a direct calculation two-dimensional motion of a particle sliding on an inclined plane is investigated for general values of friction coefficient ([mu]). A parametric equation for the trajectory of the particle is also obtained. In the second part of the paper, the motion of a sphere on the inclined plane is…

  9. Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Serratus Plane Block on Postoperative Quality of Recovery and Analgesia After Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery: A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Do-Hyeong; Oh, Young Jun; Lee, Jin Gu; Ha, Donghun; Chang, Young Jin; Kwak, Hyun Jeong

    2018-04-01

    The optimal regional technique for analgesia and improved quality of recovery after video-assisted thoracic surgery (a procedure associated with considerable postoperative pain) has not been established. The main objective in this study was to compare quality of recovery in patients undergoing serratus plane block (SPB) with either ropivacaine or normal saline on the first postoperative day. Secondary outcomes were analgesic outcomes, including postoperative pain intensity and opioid consumption. Ninety patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery were randomized to receive ultrasound-guided SPB with 0.4 mL/kg of either 0.375% ropivacaine (SPB group) or normal saline (control group) after anesthetic induction. The primary outcome was the 40-item Quality of Recovery (QoR-40) score at 24 hours after surgery. The QoR-40 questionnaire was completed by patients the day before surgery and on postoperative days 1 and 2. Pain scores, opioid consumption, and adverse events were assessed for 2 days postoperatively. Eighty-five patients completed the study: 42 in the SPB group and 43 in the control group. The global QoR-40 scores on both postoperative days 1 and 2 were significantly higher in the SPB group than in the control group (estimated mean difference 8.5, 97.5% confidence interval [CI], 2.1-15.0, and P = .003; 8.5, 97.5% CI, 2.0-15.1, and P = .004, respectively). The overall mean difference between the SPB and control groups was 8.5 (95% CI, 3.3-13.8; P = .002). Pain scores at rest and opioid consumption were significantly lower up to 6 hours after surgery in the SPB group than in the control group. Cumulative opioid consumption was significantly lower up to 24 hours postoperatively in the SPB group. Single-injection SPB with ropivacaine enhanced the quality of recovery for 2 days postoperatively and improved postoperative analgesia during the early postoperative period in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery.

  10. Multispectral linear array (MLA) focal plane mechanical and thermal design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, A. S.; Kaminski, E. F.

    1982-01-01

    The mechanical and thermal design of an integrated focal plane subsystem of a Multispectral Linear Array (MLA) instrument is discussed in terms of focal-plane alignment, thermoelastic performance, and thermal requirements. The modular construction and thermal control of the focal plane array are discussed.

  11. Mechanistic Understanding of Tungsten Oxide In-Plane Nanostructure Growth via Sequential Infiltration Synthesis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jae Jin; Suh, Hyo Seon; Zhou, Chun; Mane, Anil U.; Lee, Byeongdu; Kim, Soojeong; Emery, Jonathan D.; Elam, Jeffrey W.; Nealey, Paul F.; Fenter, Paul; Fister, Timothy T.

    2018-02-21

    Tungsten oxide (WO3-x) nanostructures with hexagonal in-plane arrangements were fabricated by sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS), using the selective interaction of gas phase precursors with functional groups in one domain of a block copolymer (BCP) self-assembled template. Such structures are highly desirable for various practical applications and as model systems for fundamental studies. The nanostructures were characterized by cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, grazing-incidence small/wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS/GIWAXS), and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) measurements at each stage during the SIS process and subsequent thermal treatments, to provide a comprehensive picture of their evolution in morphology, crystallography and electronic structure. In particular, we discuss the critical role of SIS Al2O3 seeds toward modifying the chemical affinity and free volume in a polymer for subsequent infiltration of gas phase precursors. The insights into SIS growth obtained from this study are valuable to the design and fabrication of a wide range of targeted nanostructures.

  12. The tangential breast match plane: Practical problems and solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norris, M.

    1989-01-01

    The three-field breast set-up, in which tangential oblique opposed fields are joined to an anterior supraclavicular field, has been the method of choice for treatment of breast cancer for many years. In the last several years many authors have suggested refinements to the technique that improve the accuracy with which fields join at a match plane. The three-field breast set-up, using a rotatable half-beam block is the technique used at our institution. In instituting this procedure, several practical problems were encountered. Due to the small collimator rotation angles used it is possible to clinically reverse the collimator angle without observing an error noticeable on fluoroscopy. A second error can occur when the table base angle is used to compensate for the incorrect collimator rotation. These potential sources of error can be avoided if a programmable calculator or computer program is used to assist the dosimetrist during the simulation. Utilization of fluoroscopy, digital table position displays and a caliper provide accurate input for the computer program. This paper will present a hybrid procedure that combines practical set-up procedures with the mathematical calculation of ideal angles to result in an accurate and practical approach to breast simulation

  13. Ultrasound evaluation of muscle thickness changes in the external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis muscles considering the influence of posture and muscle contraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugaya, Tomoaki; Abe, Yota; Sakamoto, Masaaki

    2014-09-01

    [Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate muscle thickness changes in the external oblique (EO), internal oblique (IO), and transversus abdominis (TrA) muscles between the neutral position and trunk rotation, under a state of rest without voluntary contractions, and isometric contractions to both sides with resistance of 50% of the maximum trunk rotation strength. [Subjects] The subjects of this study were 21 healthy young men. [Methods] Muscle thickness changes in the EO, IO, and TrA in each position and state were evaluated by ultrasound. The range of motion at maximum trunk rotation and the maximum strength of trunk rotation were measured using a hand-held dynamometer. [Results] In the neutral position and at 50% trunk rotation to the right side, the thicknesses of the IO and TrA significantly increased with resistance. In both states, the thicknesses of the IO and TrA significantly increased at 50% trunk rotation to the right side. [Conclusion] The muscular contractions of the IO and TrA were stronger during ipsilateral rotation than in the neutral position and with resistance than at rest. Moreover, the muscular contraction was strongest in the resistive state during ipsilateral rotation.

  14. Peptidoglycan architecture can specify division planes in Staphylococcus aureus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Robert D; Ratcliffe, Emma C; Wheeler, Richard; Golestanian, Ramin; Hobbs, Jamie K; Foster, Simon J

    2010-06-15

    Division in Staphylococci occurs equatorially and on specific sequentially orthogonal planes in three dimensions, resulting, after incomplete cell separation, in the 'bunch of grapes' cluster organization that defines the genus. The shape of Staphylococci is principally maintained by peptidoglycan. In this study, we use Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence microscopy with vancomycin labelling to examine purified peptidoglycan architecture and its dynamics in Staphylococcus aureus and correlate these with the cell cycle. At the presumptive septum, cells were found to form a large belt of peptidoglycan in the division plane before the centripetal formation of the septal disc; this often had a 'piecrust' texture. After division, the structures remain as orthogonal ribs, encoding the location of past division planes in the cell wall. We propose that this epigenetic information is used to enable S. aureus to divide in sequentially orthogonal planes, explaining how a spherical organism can maintain division plane localization with fidelity over many generations.

  15. The wild tapered block bootstrap

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hounyo, Ulrich

    In this paper, a new resampling procedure, called the wild tapered block bootstrap, is introduced as a means of calculating standard errors of estimators and constructing confidence regions for parameters based on dependent heterogeneous data. The method consists in tapering each overlapping block...... of the series first, the applying the standard wild bootstrap for independent and heteroscedastic distrbuted observations to overlapping tapered blocks in an appropriate way. Its perserves the favorable bias and mean squared error properties of the tapered block bootstrap, which is the state-of-the-art block......-order asymptotic validity of the tapered block bootstrap as well as the wild tapered block bootstrap approximation to the actual distribution of the sample mean is also established when data are assumed to satisfy a near epoch dependent condition. The consistency of the bootstrap variance estimator for the sample...

  16. Multiple fracture planes in deuteron irradiated metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, W.R.; Johnson, P.B.

    1987-01-01

    Evidence has been found of multiple fracture planes in the blistering and flaking of metals observed at room temperature following irradiation at 120 K with 200 keV deuterons. In particular, two fracture planes are identified in copper, gold and stainless steel and three in aluminium. In nickel only one fracture plane is found. Qualitative models are proposed which explain the different fracture planes that are observed. In these models it is proposed that several mechanisms are important. (i) High levels of compressional stress in the implanted layer inhibits bubble nucleation and bubble growth in the depth region near the maxima in the damage and gas deposition profiles. (ii) The lateral stress varies from compression in the implant region to tension in the material below. In the region of tension bubble growth is enhanced. The vertical gradient in the lateral stress may also assist gas to move deeper into the target to further enhance bubble growth in this region. (iii) Shear resulting from differential expansion due to a combination of radiation induced swelling and localised heating is an important mechanism leading to fracture. (orig.)

  17. Hand-Eye LRF-Based Iterative Plane Detection Method for Autonomous Robotic Welding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sungmin Lee

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a hand-eye LRF-based (laser range finder welding plane-detection method for autonomous robotic welding in the field of shipbuilding. The hand-eye LRF system consists of a 6 DOF manipulator and an LRF attached to the wrist of the manipulator. The welding plane is detected by the LRF with only the wrist's rotation to minimize a mechanical error caused by the manipulator's motion. A position on the plane is determined as an average position of the detected points on the plane, and a normal vector to the plane is determined by applying PCA (principal component analysis to the detected points. In this case, the accuracy of the detected plane is analysed by simulations with respect to the wrist's angle interval and the plane angle. As a result of the analysis, an iterative plane-detection method with the manipulator's alignment motion is proposed to improve the performance of plane detection. For verifying the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed plane-detection method, experiments are carried out with a prototype of the hand-eye LRF-based system, which consists of a 1 DOF wrist's joint, an LRF system and a rotatable plane. In addition, the experimental results of the PCA-based plane detection method are compared with those of the two representative plane-detection methods, based on RANSAC (RANdom SAmple Consensus and the 3D Hough transform in both accuracy and computation time's points of view.

  18. Towards the design of a RF-harvesting EBG ground plane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Visser, H.J.; Keyrouz, S.

    2015-01-01

    Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) structures may be used to create magnetic conductors that can be used as ground planes for dipole and loop-like antennas without annihilating the radiation as electrically conducting ground planes would do. An EBG ground plane may be created by placing a Frequency

  19. 47 CFR 73.160 - Vertical plane radiation characteristics, f(θ).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Vertical plane radiation characteristics, f(Î... SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES AM Broadcast Stations § 73.160 Vertical plane radiation characteristics, f(θ). (a) The vertical plane radiation characteristics show the relative field being radiated at a...

  20. Laplace plane modifications arising from solar radiation pressure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosengren, Aaron J.; Scheeres, Daniel J., E-mail: aaron.rosengren@colorado.edu [ADepartment of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

    2014-05-01

    The dynamical effects of solar radiation pressure (SRP) in the solar system have been rigorously studied since the early 1900s. This non-gravitational perturbation plays a significant role in the evolution of dust particles in circumplanetary orbits, as well as in the orbital motion about asteroids and comets. For gravitationally dominated orbits, SRP is negligible and the resulting motion is largely governed by the oblateness of the primary and the attraction of the Sun. The interplay between these gravitational perturbations gives rise to three mutually perpendicular planes of equilibrium for circular satellite orbits. The classical Laplace plane lies between the equatorial and orbital planes of the primary, and is the mean reference plane about whose axis the pole of a satellite's orbit precesses. From a previously derived solution for the secular motion of an orbiter about a small body in a SRP dominated environment, we find that SRP acting alone will cause an initially circular orbit to precess around the pole of the primary's heliocentric orbital plane. When the gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations act in concert, the resulting equilibrium planes turn out to be qualitatively different, in some cases, from those obtained without considering the radiation pressure. The warping of the surfaces swept out by the modified equilibria as the semi-major axis varies depends critically on the cross-sectional area of the body exposed. These results, together with an adiabatic invariance argument on Poynting-Robertson drag, provide a natural qualitative explanation for the initial albedo dichotomy of Saturn's moon, Iapetus.

  1. BKP plane partitions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foda, Omar; Wheeler, Michael

    2007-01-01

    Using BKP neutral fermions, we derive a product expression for the generating function of volume-weighted plane partitions that satisfy two conditions. If we call a set of adjacent equal height-h columns, h > 0, an h-path, then 1. Every h-path can assume one of two possible colours. 2. There is a unique way to move along an h-path from any column to another

  2. BKP plane partitions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foda, Omar; Wheeler, Michael [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010 (Australia)

    2007-01-15

    Using BKP neutral fermions, we derive a product expression for the generating function of volume-weighted plane partitions that satisfy two conditions. If we call a set of adjacent equal height-h columns, h > 0, an h-path, then 1. Every h-path can assume one of two possible colours. 2. There is a unique way to move along an h-path from any column to another.

  3. Paroxysmal atrioventricular block: Electrophysiological mechanism of phase 4 conduction block in the His-Purkinje system: A comparison with phase 3 block.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shenasa, Mohammad; Josephson, Mark E; Wit, Andrew L

    2017-11-01

    Paroxysmal atrioventricular (A-V) block is relatively rare, and due to its transient nature, it is often under recognized. It is often triggered by atrial, junctional, or ventricular premature beats, and occurs in the presence of a diseased His-Purkinje system (HPS). Here, we present a 45-year-old white male who was admitted for observation due to recurrent syncope and near-syncope, who had paroxysmal A-V block. The likely cellular electrophysiological mechanisms(s) of paroxysmal A-V block and its differential diagnosis and management are discussed. Continuous electrocardiographic monitoring was done while the patient was in the cardiac unit. Multiple episodes of paroxysmal A-V block were documented in this case. All episodes were initiated and terminated with atrial/junctional premature beats. The patient underwent permanent pacemaker implantation and has remained asymptomatic since then. Paroxysmal A-V block is rare and often causes syncope or near-syncope. Permanent pacemaker implantation is indicated according to the current guidelines. Paroxysmal A-V block occurs in the setting of diseased HPS and is bradycardia-dependent. The detailed electrophysiological mechanisms, which involve phase 4 diastolic depolarization, and differential diagnosis are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Proof of Polyakov conjecture on supercomplex plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kachkachi, M.; Kouadik, S.

    1994-10-01

    Using Neumann series, we solve iteratively SBE to arbitrary order. Then applying this, we compute the energy momentum tensor and n points functions for generic n starting from WZP action on the supercomplex plane. We solve the superconformal Ward identity and we show that the iterative solution to arbitrary order is resumed by WZP action. This proves the Polyakov conjecture on supercomplex plane. (author). 8 refs

  5. Long-range current flow and percolation in Rabbits-type conductors and the relative importance of out-of-plane and in-plane mis orientations in determining J {sub c}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goyal, A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6116 (United States)]. E-mail: goyala@ornl.gov; Rutter, N. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6116 (United States); University of Cambridge, Pembroke St., Cambridge CB2 3QZ (United Kingdom); Cantoni, C. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6116 (United States); Lee, D.F. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6116 (United States)

    2005-10-01

    Calculations of long-range current flow using an advanced percolation model show that with the presently observed texture in RABiTS substrates, the dependence of J {sub c} on length as a function of width is greatly reduced. Furthermore, this dependence becomes almost negligible in applied fields. These results suggest that sub-division of a wide conductor into narrow filaments should be possible without loss in J {sub c}. The relative importance of the out-of-plane texture in affecting intergranular J {sub c} was also explored by fabricating RABiTS substrates with different out-of-plane textures but approximately the same in-plane texture. This was accomplished by using TiN as a seed layer for which significant sharpening of the out-of-plane texture is observed. Similar J {sub c} was found for samples with differing out-of-plane texture but almost the same in-plane texture. Finally, separation of the total misorientation in GB networks into in-plane and out-of-plane misorientations using manipulations in Rodrigues space shows that J {sub c} correlates best with in-plane texture.

  6. Out-of-plane coercive field of Ni80Fe20 antidot arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Chunhong; Chen Ke; Lue Ling; Zhao Jianwei; Chen Peng

    2010-01-01

    The out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy and out-of-plane magnetization reversal process of nanoscale Ni 80 Fe 20 antidot arrays deposited by magnetron sputtering technique on an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane are investigated. The angular dependence of out-of-plane remanent magnetization of Ni 80 Fe 20 antidot arrays shows that the maximum remanence is in-plane and the squareness of the out-of-plane hysteresis loop follow a |cos θ| dependence. The angular dependence of out-of-plane coercivity of Ni 80 Fe 20 antidot arrays shows that the maximum coercivity lies on the surface of a cone with its symmetric axis normal to the sample plane, which indicates a transition of magnetic reversal from curling to coherent rotation when changing the angle between the applied magnetic field and the sample plane.

  7. Out-of-plane coercive field of Ni 80Fe 20 antidot arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Chunhong; Chen, Ke; Lü, Ling; Zhao, Jianwei; Chen, Peng

    2010-11-01

    The out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy and out-of-plane magnetization reversal process of nanoscale Ni 80Fe 20 antidot arrays deposited by magnetron sputtering technique on an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane are investigated. The angular dependence of out-of-plane remanent magnetization of Ni 80Fe 20 antidot arrays shows that the maximum remanence is in-plane and the squareness of the out-of-plane hysteresis loop follow a |cos θ| dependence. The angular dependence of out-of-plane coercivity of Ni 80Fe 20 antidot arrays shows that the maximum coercivity lies on the surface of a cone with its symmetric axis normal to the sample plane, which indicates a transition of magnetic reversal from curling to coherent rotation when changing the angle between the applied magnetic field and the sample plane.

  8. Designers Block 2002

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dickson, Thomas

    2002-01-01

    Artiklen indleder med: ved siden aaf Londons etablerede designmesse '100% Design', er der vokset et undergrundsmiljø af designudstillinger op. Det dominerende og mest kendte initiativ er Designers Block, der i år udstillede to steder i byen. Designers Block er et mere uformelt udstillingsforum...

  9. Surface anatomy and anatomical planes in the adult turkish population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzun, C; Atman, E D; Ustuner, E; Mirjalili, S A; Oztuna, D; Esmer, T S

    2016-03-01

    Surface anatomy and anatomical planes are widely used in education and clinical practice. The planes are largely derived from cadaveric studies and their projections on the skin show discrepancies between and within anatomical reference textbooks. In this study, we reassessed the accuracy of common thoracic and abdominopelvic anatomical planes using computed tomography (CT) imaging in the live adult Turkish population. After patients with distorting pathologies had been excluded, CT images of 150 supine patients at the end tidal inspiration were analyzed. Sternal angle, transpyloric, subcostal, supracristal and pubic crest planes and their relationships to anatomical structures were established by dual consensus. The tracheal bifurcation, azygos vein/superior vena cava (SVC) junction and pulmonary bifurcation were usually below the sternal angle while the concavity of the aortic arch was generally within the plane. The tip of the tenth rib, the superior mesenteric artery and the portal vein were usually within the transpyloric plane while the renal hila and the fundus of the gallbladder were below it. The inferior mesenteric artery was below the subcostal plane and the aortic bifurcation was below the supracristal plane in most adults. Projectional surface anatomy is fundamental to medical education and clinical practice. Modern cross-sectional imaging techniques allow large groups of live patients to be examined. Classic textbook information regarding anatomy needs to be reviewed and updated using the data gathered from these recent studies, taking ethnic differences into consideration. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Comparing trapezius muscle activity in the different planes of shoulder elevation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishigaki, Tomonobu; Ishida, Tomoya; Samukawa, Mina; Saito, Hiroshi; Hirokawa, Motoki; Ezawa, Yuya; Sugawara, Makoto; Tohyama, Harukazu; Yamanaka, Masanori

    2015-05-01

    [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to compare the upper, middle, and lower trapezius muscles' activity in the different planes of shoulder elevation. [Subjects] Twenty male subjects volunteered for this study. [Methods] Surface electromyographic (EMG) activity for each of the three regions of the trapezius muscles in the three different planes of elevation were collected while the participants maintained 30, 60, and 90 degrees of elevation in each plane. The EMG data were normalized with maximum voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC), and compared among the planes at each angle of elevation. [Results] There were significantly different muscle activities among the elevation planes at each angle. [Conclusion] This study found that the three regions of the trapezius muscles changed their activity depending on the planes of shoulder elevation. These changes in the trapezius muscles could induce appropriate scapular motion to face the glenoid cavity in the correct directions in different planes of shoulder elevation.

  11. The elastic strain energy of crystallographic shear planes in reduced tungsten trioxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iguchi, E.; Tilley, R.J.D.

    1977-01-01

    Calculations of the elastic strain energy due to crystallographic shear (c.s.) planes lying upon 102, 103 and 001 planes in reduced tungsten trioxide crystals have been made. The cases analysed in detail are for both isolated c.s. planes and for pairs of c.s. planes. These results are used to determine the elastic strain energy per unit volume for crystals containing ordered arrays of c.s. planes. It was found that the magnitude of the elastic strain energy was in the sequence 001 < 102 < 103 and that at relatively small inter-c.s. spacings the curves of elastic strain energy against c.s. plane separation take the form of a series of peaks and valleys. These results are compared with experimental observations of c.s. plane spacings in substantially reduced crystals containing quasi-ordered arrays of c.s. planes and with observations of c.s. plane nucleation and growth in both slightly and more appreciably reduced crystals. It was found that the elastic strain energy plays a significant part in controlling the microstructure of c.s. plane arrays in such cases. (author)

  12. Analysis of Relative Parallelism Between Hamular-Incisive-Papilla Plane and Campers Plane in Edentulous Subjects: A Comparative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tambake, Deepti; Shetty, Shilpa; Satish Babu, C L; Fulari, Sangamesh G

    2014-12-01

    The study was undertaken to evaluate the parallelism between hamular-incisive-papilla plane (HIP) and the Campers plane. And to determine which part of the posterior reference of the tragus i.e., the superior, middle or the inferior of the Camper's plane is parallel to HIP using digital lateral cephalograms. Fifty edentulous subjects with well formed ridges were selected for the study. The master casts were obtained using the standard selective pressure impression procedure. On the deepest point of the hamular notches and the centre of the incisive papilla stainless steel spherical bearings were glued to the cast at the marked points. The study templates were fabricated with autopolymerizing acrylic resin. The subjects were prepared for the lateral cephalograms. Stainless steel spherical bearings were adhered to the superior, middle, inferior points of the tragus of the ear and inferior border of the ala of the nose using surgical adhesive tape. The subjects with study templates were subjected to lateral cephalograms. Cephalometric tracings were done using Autocad 2010 software. Lines were drawn connecting the incisive papilla and hamular notch and the stainless steel spherical bearings placed on the superior, middle and inferior points on the tragus and the ala of the nose i.e., the Campers line S, Campers line M, Campers line I. The angles between the three Camper's line and the HIP were measured and recorded. Higher mean angulation was recorded in Campers line S -HIP (8.03) followed by Campers line M-HIP (4.60). Campers line I-HIP recorded the least angulation (3.80). The HIP is parallel to the Camper's plane. The Camper's plane formed with the posterior reference point as inferior point of the tragus is relatively parallel to the HIP.

  13. Three-dimensional sheaf of ultrasound planes reconstruction (SOUPR) of ablated volumes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingle, Atul; Varghese, Tomy

    2014-08-01

    This paper presents an algorithm for 3-D reconstruction of tumor ablations using ultrasound shear wave imaging with electrode vibration elastography. Radio-frequency ultrasound data frames are acquired over imaging planes that form a subset of a sheaf of planes sharing a common axis of intersection. Shear wave velocity is estimated separately on each imaging plane using a piecewise linear function fitting technique with a fast optimization routine. An interpolation algorithm then computes velocity maps on a fine grid over a set of C-planes that are perpendicular to the axis of the sheaf. A full 3-D rendering of the ablation can then be created from this stack of C-planes; hence the name "Sheaf Of Ultrasound Planes Reconstruction" or SOUPR. The algorithm is evaluated through numerical simulations and also using data acquired from a tissue mimicking phantom. Reconstruction quality is gauged using contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio measurements and changes in quality from using increasing number of planes in the sheaf are quantified. The highest contrast of 5 dB is seen between the stiffest and softest regions of the phantom. Under certain idealizing assumptions on the true shape of the ablation, good reconstruction quality while maintaining fast processing rate can be obtained with as few as six imaging planes suggesting that the method is suited for parsimonious data acquisitions with very few sparsely chosen imaging planes.

  14. The Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donovan, Benjamin

    2018-01-01

    The next generation of X-ray spectrometers necessitate significant increases in both resolution and effective area to achieve the science goals set forth in the 2010 Decadal Survey and the 2013 Astrophysics Roadmap. The Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE), an X-ray spectroscopy suborbital rocket payload currently scheduled for launch in Q3 2020, will serve as a testbed for several key technologies which can help achieve the desired performance increases of future spectrometers. OGRE will be the first instrument to fly mono-crystalline silicon X-ray mirrors developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The payload will also utilize an array of off-plane gratings manufactured at The Pennsylvania State University. Additionally, the focal plane will be populated with an array of four electron-multiplying CCDs developed by the Open University and XCAM Ltd. With these key technologies, OGRE hopes to achieve the highest resolution on-sky soft X-ray spectrum to date. We discuss the optical design, expected performance, and the current status of the payload.

  15. Pulmonary intersegmental planes: imaging appearance and possible reasons leading to their visualization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Yi-Zhi; Liu, Chao; Liu, Shu-Wei

    2013-04-01

    To describe the normal imaging appearance of pulmonary intersegmental planes on thoracic computed tomographic (CT) scans and determine the possible reasons related to their visualization in terms of aging and anatomy. The study was approved by the internal ethics review board. Informed consent was obtained. A retrospective review was undertaken of 104 thoracic multidetector CT scans of an older group (>65 years) and younger group (planes were assessed. Group comparisons were made, and linear regression analysis was used to assess relationships between age and visualization of intersegmental planes. Thirty lung samples (10 × 10 × 10 mm(3)) from autopsy were scanned by using micro-CT. Thicknesses of intersegmental planes were measured. Significant differences of the thickness between visible and invisible intersegmental planes were assessed with the independent t test. In five fetal specimens (17-21 weeks in gestational age), 7.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed to determine the congenital difference of thickness of intersegmental planes. Within the right lung, appearance rates of visible intersegmental planes were 71.2% at S1-S3, 54.8% at S4-S5, and 70.2% at S7-S10. Within the left lung, appearance rates of visible intersegmental planes were 39.4% at S1+2 to S3, 64.4% at S4-S5, 18.3% at S7-S8, and 89.4% at S7-S10. Appearance rates of visible intersegmental planes on thoracic CT scans were not significantly different (P ≥ .38) between younger and older groups. Mean thicknesses of visible and invisible intersegmental planes were 681.3 μm ± 75.3 (standard deviation) and 221.7 μm ± 54.1, respectively. Visible intersegmental planes were significantly thicker than invisible intersegmental planes (P planes were also seen on fetal lung 7.0-T MR images. The thickness of pulmonary intersegmental planes and variation of intersegmental veins were closely related to visualization of intersegmental planes on thoracic CT scans. Aging was excluded as the

  16. Arthroscopic medial meniscus trimming or repair under nerve blocks: Which nerves should be blocked?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taha, AM; Abd-Elmaksoud, AM

    2016-01-01

    Background: This study aimed to determine the role of the sciatic and obturator nerve blocks (in addition to femoral block) in providing painless arthroscopic medial meniscus trimming/repair. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty patients with medial meniscus tear, who had been scheduled to knee arthroscopy, were planned to be included in this controlled prospective double-blind study. The patients were randomly allocated into three equal groups; FSO, FS, and FO. The femoral, sciatic, and obturator nerves were blocked in FSO groups. The femoral and sciatic nerves were blocked in FS group, while the femoral and obturator nerves were blocked in FO group. Intraoperative pain and its causative surgical maneuver were recorded. Results: All the patients (n = 7, 100%) in FO group had intraoperative pain. The research was terminated in this group but completed in FS and FSO groups (40 patients each). During valgus positioning of the knee for surgical management of the medial meniscus tear, the patients in FS group experienced pain more frequently than those in FSO group (P = 0.005). Conclusion: Adding a sciatic nerve block to the femoral nerve block is important for painless knee arthroscopy. Further adding of an obturator nerve block may be needed when a valgus knee position is required to manage the medial meniscus tear. PMID:27375382

  17. The OBS control plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manolova, Anna Vasileva; Ruepp, Sarah Renée

    2010-01-01

    . The applicability analysis carried out here focuses on the actual feasibility of the integration and the potential trade-offs which appear when two contradicting principles are combined. Taking advantage of the flexibility of the GMPLS control plane does not seem to be as easy and as straightforward as expected...

  18. Projecting non-diffracting waves with intermediate-plane holography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mondal, Argha; Yevick, Aaron; Blackburn, Lauren C; Kanellakopoulos, Nikitas; Grier, David G

    2018-02-19

    We introduce intermediate-plane holography, which substantially improves the ability of holographic trapping systems to project propagation-invariant modes of light using phase-only diffractive optical elements. Translating the mode-forming hologram to an intermediate plane in the optical train can reduce the need to encode amplitude variations in the field, and therefore complements well-established techniques for encoding complex-valued transfer functions into phase-only holograms. Compared to standard holographic trapping implementations, intermediate-plane holograms greatly improve diffraction efficiency and mode purity of propagation-invariant modes, and so increase their useful non-diffracting range. We demonstrate this technique through experimental realizations of accelerating modes and long-range tractor beams.

  19. Origin of the Local Group satellite planes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banik, Indranil; O'Ryan, David; Zhao, Hongsheng

    2018-04-01

    We attempt to understand the planes of satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way (MW) and M31 in the context of Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), which implies a close MW-M31 flyby occurred ≈8 Gyr ago. Using the timing argument, we obtain MW-M31 trajectories consistent with cosmological initial conditions and present observations. We adjust the present M31 proper motion within its uncertainty in order to simulate a range of orbital geometries and closest approach distances. Treating the MW and M31 as point masses, we follow the trajectories of surrounding test particle disks, thereby mapping out the tidal debris distribution. Around each galaxy, the resulting tidal debris tends to cluster around a particular orbital pole. We find some models in which these preferred spin vectors align fairly well with those of the corresponding observed satellite planes. The radial distributions of material in the simulated satellite planes are similar to what we observe. Around the MW, our best-fitting model yields a significant fraction (0.22) of counter-rotating material, perhaps explaining why Sculptor counter-rotates within the MW satellite plane. In contrast, our model yields no counter-rotating material around M31. This is testable with proper motions of M31 satellites. In our best model, the MW disk is thickened by the flyby 7.65 Gyr ago to a root mean square height of 0.75 kpc. This is similar to the observed age and thickness of the Galactic thick disk. Thus, the MW thick disk may have formed together with the MW and M31 satellite planes during a past MW-M31 flyby.

  20. Crack initiation under generalized plane strain conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shum, D.K.M.; Merkle, J.G.

    1991-01-01

    A method for estimating the decrease in crack-initiation toughness, from a reference plane strain value, due to positive straining along the crack front of a circumferential flaw in a reactor pressure vessel is presented in this study. This method relates crack initiation under generalized plane strain conditions with material failure at points within a distance of a few crack-tip-opening displacements ahead of a crack front, and involves the formulation of a micromechanical crack-initiation model. While this study is intended to address concerns regarding the effects of positive out-of- plane straining on ductile crack initiation, the approach adopted in this work can be extended in a straightforward fashion to examine conditions of macroscopic cleavage crack initiation. Provided single- parameter dominance of near-tip fields exists in the flawed structure, results from this study could be used to examine the appropriateness of applying plane strain fracture toughness to the evaluation of circumferential flaws, in particular to those in ring-forged vessels which have no longitudinal welds. In addition, results from this study could also be applied toward the analysis of the effects of thermal streaming on the fracture resistance of circumferentially oriented flaws in a pressure vessel. 37 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab