Electromechanical conversion efficiency of GaN NWs: critical influence of the NW stiffness, the Schottky nano-contact and the surface charge effects.

The piezoelectric nanowires (NWs) are considered as promising nanomaterials to develop high-efficient piezoelectric generators. Establishing the relationship between their characteristics and their piezoelectric conversion properties is now essential to further improve the devices. However, due to their nanoscale dimensions, the NWs are characterized by new properties that are challenging to investigate.

Decellularized and matured esophageal scaffold for circumferential esophagus replacement: Proof of concept in a pig model.

Surgical resection of the esophagus requires sacrificing a long portion of it. Its replacement by the demanding gastric pull-up or colonic interposition techniques may be avoided by using short biologic scaffolds composed of decellularized matrix (DM). The aim of this study was to prepare, characterize, and assess the in vivo remodeling of DM and its clinical impact in a preclinical model.

On the Mechanism of In Nanoparticle Formation by Exposing ITO Thin Films to Hydrogen Plasmas.

We present our systematic work on the in situ generation of In nanoparticles (NPs) from the reduction of ITO thin films by hydrogen (H) plasma exposure. In contrast to NP deposition from the vapor phase (i.e.

Comparative study of membranes induced by PMMA or silicone in rats, and influence of external radiotherapy.

The induced membrane technique has been used for long bone defect reconstruction after traumatism. One of the major drawbacks of this method is the difficult removal of the polymethyl methacrylate spacer after membrane formation. We therefore replaced the stiff PMMA spacer with a semi-flexible medical grade silicone spacer.

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor: current management and recent findings.

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare and highly aggressive mesenchymal tumor that develops in the abdominal cavity of young men adults. Patients typically present with symptoms of abdominal sarcomatosis. Diagnosis is based on histological analysis of biopsies which typically show small round blue cells in nests separated by an abundant desmoplastic stroma.

Pharmacokinetic population study to describe cefepime lung concentrations.

Pharmacokinetic parameters of cefepime in 2 g plasma and lung tissue bid over 3 days to achieve the steady-state was studied in 16 patients (15 male, one female) subjected to lung surgery for bronchial epithelioma. The aims of this study were firstly to quantify cefepime lung diffusion with cefepime lung concentrations in comparison with cefepime serum concentrations, and secondly to estimate population pharmacokinetic parameters of cefepime in lung tissue using NONMEM. The mean characteristics of patients were: age, 60 years (range, 51-69 years), weight, 73 kg (range, 62-87 kg) and creatinine clearance, 77 ml/min (range, 62-92 ml/min).

Esophageal patching for an unsuturable tracheoesophageal fistula.

We herein report a case of unsuturable tracheoesophageal fistula developed after chemotherapy of a mediastinal lymphoma. Esophageal exclusion was primary performed to prevent continued contamination of the respiratory tract. In a second stage procedure the fistula was patched with the esophageal posterior wall and the digestive tract was restored by a substernal colic bypass.

Esophagectomy for cancer in the patient aged 70 years and older.

Background: Advanced age increases the risk of any major surgical intervention, particularly esophageal resection. High morbidity and increased mortality have been reported in operations for esophageal cancer in the elderly.

Methods: To determine outcome, risk factors, and the advisability of esophageal resection in the elderly, a single-institution retrospective review was performed of esophagectomy for cancer over a 14-year period.

Techniques of management of subglottic stenoses with glottic and supraglottic problems.

Glottic problems complicating a subjacent tracheal or subglottic stenosis may result from various causes, such as glottic closure due to fixation or paralysis of vocal cords, fibrous stenosing scars of the glottis, or instability of arytenoid cartilages. Resecting scar tissues, molding the closed glottis, and stenting a patent laryngeal lumen until consolidation are the basic means which, when associated in selected indications, allow recovery of respiration and speech through the normal routes.

Intermediate-term results after en bloc double-lung transplantation with bronchial arterial revascularization. Bordeaux Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Group.

Objective: Between May 1990 and January 1994, 18 patients underwent en bloc double-lung transplantation with tracheal anastomosis and bronchial arterial revascularization. Because at that time it was already suggested that chronic ischemia could be a contributing factor in occurrence of obliterative bronchiolitis, the purpose of this study was to evaluate, with a follow-up ranging from 22 to 69 months, the midterm effects of bronchial arterial revascularization on development of obliterative bronchiolitis.

Results: Results were assessed according to tracheal healing, functional results, rejection, infection, and incidence of obliterative bronchiolitis.

Acquired tracheoesophageal fistula and its management.

Tracheoesophageal fistulae (TEF) are severe lesions leading to serious and eventually fatal pulmonary complications. Currently, TEF are mainly iatrogenic, occurring in the course of tracheal intubation for resuscitation or malignant after invasion of both esophageal and tracheal walls. Difficulty in treatment results from the need to manage both the consequences of esophagotracheal communication and those of the illness responsible for fistula.

Surgical treatment of nontumoral stenoses of the upper airway.

Background: After 1970, the widespread use of nasotracheal intubation, avoiding tracheostomy and its pitfalls, resulted in more frequent laryngeal or laryngotracheal stenoses, which required more complex and sometimes multistaged procedures.

Methods: A series of 217 nontumoral stenoses of the upper airway were treated following the same therapeutic principles in the period 1978 to 1992. Two hundred one of them were iatrogenic postintubation strictures (92%); the others were posttraumatic (7), idiopathic (5), and various (4).

The bronchial arteries: anatomic study and application to lung transplantation.

The bronchial arterial system (BAS) and its territory was studied in dissections of 40 fresh adult cadavers. The arterial distribution was assessed by catheterisation of the ostia and injection of contrast medium. The number of bronchial aa.

[Iatrogenic stenoses of the respiratory tract. Evolution of therapeutic indications. Based on 217 surgical cases].

The authors report a series of 217 non-neoplastic stenoses of the upper airways operated in the period 1978-1991. One hundred and twenty patients with tracheal stenoses underwent tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis, with 117 excellent results and 3 deaths. The treatment of 97 patients with laryngotracheal stenoses was much more complex and difficult to manage: Fifty-nine underwent tracheal and subglottic resection-anastomosis with 58 successes and 1 death--Seven had resection-anastomosis with total cricoidectomy and stenting.

[Left thoracotomy in the excision of cancers of the cardia and the lower third of the esophagus. Apropos of a series of 210 cases].

From January 1 1980 to December 1993, 210 patients underwent exeresis of a cancer of the cardia or the lower third of the oesophagus. There were 193 males and 17 females (mean age 63.5 years, range 18-84).

Tuberculosis in transplanted lungs.

Over a 4-year period in four of 61 patients (6.5%) who survived lung transplantation, pulmonary tuberculosis developed at a mean of 7.5 months (range 3 to 13 months) after operation.

Long-term functional results after bilateral lung transplantation. Bordeaux Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Group.

Between February 1988 and January 1992, 61 patients have undergone bilateral lung transplantations (42 heart-lung and 19 double-lung) in Bordeaux. The underlying diseases were primary or secondary hypertension (20), emphysema (22), or other diseases including cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, silicosis, and sarcoidosis (19). Actuarial survival for double-lung and heart-lung transplant recipients was 66% and 72% at 1 year and 57% and 53% at 3 years, respectively.

Expanding wire stents in benign tracheobronchial disease: indications and complications.

Prosthetic tracheobronchial stents provide palliative treatment for narrowed airways where surgical resection is inadvisable. Over a 1-year period, 28 Gianturco expanding wire stents were used in 15 patients for nonneoplastic indications: pure fibrous airway stenosis (6), fibroinflammatory stenosis (4), and tracheobronchial malacia (5). Insertion was technically straightforward.

Bronchial revascularization in double-lung transplantation: a series of 8 patients. Bordeaux Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Group.

Donor airway ischemia is the main cause for defective tracheal or bronchial healing after double-lung transplantation. Anatomical studies and bronchial arteriograms have shown that the right intercostal bronchial artery is constant (95% of instances) and provides an important blood supply to the distal trachea, the carina, and the right bronchial tree as well as to the left side through a subcarinal and periadventitial anastomostic network. To maintain this important bilateral bronchial circulation, it is of capital importance not to mobilize the arteries individually and to avoid large dissections around the carina.