Super-Suppression of Long-Wavelength Phonons in Constricted Nanoporous Geometries.

In a typical semiconductor material, the majority of the heat is carried by long-wavelength, long-mean-free-path phonons. Nanostructuring strategies to reduce thermal conductivity, a promising direction in the field of thermoelectrics, place scattering centers of size and spatial separation comparable to the mean free paths of the dominant phonons to selectively scatter them. The resultant thermal conductivity is in most cases well predicted using Matthiessen's rule.

The Influence of Ions on the Electrochemical Stability of Aqueous Electrolytes.

The electrochemical stability window of water is known to vary with the type and concentration of dissolved salts. However, the underlying influence of ions on the thermodynamic stability of aqueous solutions has not been fully understood. Here, we investigated the electrolytic behaviors of aqueous electrolytes as a function of different ions.

Strengthening Aqueous Electrolytes without Strengthening Water.

Aqueous electrolytes typically suffer from poor electrochemical stability; however, eutectic aqueous solutions-25 wt.% LiCl and 62 wt.% H PO -cooled to -78 °C exhibit a significantly widened stability window.

Metal-Mediated Directional Capping of Rod-Packing Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Two new rod-packing metal-organic frameworks (RPMOF) are constructed by regulating the in situ formation of the capping agent. In CPM-s7, carboxylate linkers extend 1D manganese-oxide chains in four additional directions, forming 3D RPMOF. The substitution of Mn with a stronger Lewis acidic Co , leads to an acceleration of the hydrolysis-prone sulfonate linker, resulting in presence of sulfate ions to reduce two out of the four carboxylate-extending directions, and thus forming a new 2D rod-packing CPM-s8.

Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Polycrystalline SiGe Alloys through the Addition of Nanoscale Porosity.

Engineering materials to include nanoscale porosity or other nanoscale structures has become a well-established strategy for enhancing the thermoelectric performance of dielectrics. However, the approach is only considered beneficial for materials where the intrinsic phonon mean-free path is much longer than that of the charge carriers. As such, the approach would not be expected to provide significant performance gains in polycrystalline semiconducting alloys, such as SiGe, where mass disorder and grains provide strong phonon scattering.

A multi-institutional analysis of sternoclavicular joint coverage following osteomyelitis.

Background: Sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) osteomyelitis is a rare pathology requiring urgent intervention. Several operative approaches have been described with conflicting reports. Here, we present a multi-institutional study utilizing multiple surgical pathways for SCJ reconstruction.

Utilizing V-Y fasciocutaneous advancement flaps for vulvar reconstruction.

Objectives: We aimed to analyze the outcomes of patients who underwent vulvectomy with subsequent V-Y fasciocutaneous flap reconstruction.

Methods: All medical records of all patients who underwent vulvectomies with V-Y fasciocutaneous flap reconstruction from January 2007 to June 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient clinical and surgical data, demographics, and outcomes were abstracted.

Optimizing Results of Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy Utilizing the Latissimus Dorsi Flap and Tissue Expander Technique: A Single-Center Experience.

Postmastectomy radiation therapy is a well-established risk factor for complications after breast reconstruction. Even if the surgeon has a suspicion that radiation therapy may be needed, it may be beneficial to place tissue expanders during the mastectomy procedure as a temporizing measure, complete radiation therapy, and then reconstruct the breast with a latissimus flap. The purpose of this study was to examine the complication rates of the latissimus dorsi flap as compared with the complication rates of implant-based reconstruction in the setting of radiation therapy.

Mg-Ion Battery Electrode: An Organic Solid's Herringbone Structure Squeezed upon Mg-Ion Insertion.

We report that crystalline 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), an organic solid, is highly amenable to host divalent metal ions, i.e., Mg and Ca, in aqueous electrolytes, where the van der Waals structure is intrinsically superior in hosting charge-dense ions.

Successful Reinnervation of the Diaphragm After Intercostal to Phrenic Nerve Neurotization in Patients With High Spinal Cord Injury.

Objective: Our objective in this study was to extend diaphragmatic pacing therapy to include paraplegic patients with high cervical spinal cord injuries between C3 and C5.

Introduction: Diaphragmatic pacing has been used in patients experiencing ventilator-dependent respiratory failure due to spinal cord injury as a means to reduce or eliminate the need for mechanical ventilation. However, this technique relies on intact phrenic nerve function.

Method to manage integration error in the Green-Kubo method.

The Green-Kubo method is a commonly used approach for predicting transport properties in a system from equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The approach is founded on the fluctuation dissipation theorem and relates the property of interest to the lifetime of fluctuations in its thermodynamic driving potential. For heat transport, the lattice thermal conductivity is related to the integral of the autocorrelation of the instantaneous heat flux.

Hydronium-Ion Batteries with Perylenetetracarboxylic Dianhydride Crystals as an Electrode.

We demonstrate for the first time that hydronium ions can be reversibly stored in an electrode of crystalline 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA). PTCDA exhibits a capacity of 85 mAh g at 1 A g after an initial conditioning process. Ex situ X-ray diffraction revealed reversible and significant structure dilation upon reduction of PTCDA in an acidic electrolyte, which can only be ascribed to hydronium-ion intercalation.

Early Clinical Outcomes of a Novel Antibiotic-Coated, Non-Crosslinked Porcine Acellular Dermal Graft after Complex Abdominal Wall Reconstruction.

Background: Non-crosslinked porcine acellular dermal grafts (NCPADG) are currently the mainstay biomaterial for abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR) in complex hernia patients. We report early clinical outcomes using a novel rifampin/minocycline-coated NCPADG for AWR.

Study Design: A multi-institutional retrospective review was performed of patients who underwent ventral hernia repair using XenMatrix AB Surgical Graft (CR Bard, Inc [Davol]).

Automated design of flexible linkers.

This paper presents a method for the systematic and automated design of flexible organic linkers for construction of metal organic-frameworks (MOFs) in which flexibility, compliance, or other mechanically exotic properties originate at the linker level rather than from the framework kinematics. Our method couples a graph grammar method for systematically generating linker like molecules with molecular dynamics modeling of linkers' mechanical response. Using this approach we have generated a candidate pool of >59,000 hypothetical linkers.

A novel potent Fas agonist for selective depletion of tumor cells in hematopoietic transplants.

There remains a clear need for effective tumor cell purging in autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) where residual malignant cells within the autograft contribute to disease relapse. Here we propose the use of a novel Fas agonist with potent pro-apoptotic activity, termed MegaFasL, as an effective ex-vivo purging agent. MegaFasL selectively kills hematological cancer cells from lymphomas and leukemias and prevents tumor development at concentrations that do not reduce the functional capacity of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells both in in vitro and in in vivo transplantation models.

Predicting perforator location on preoperative imaging for the profunda artery perforator flap.

Introduction: The profunda artery perforator (PAP) flap is a new addition to our reconstructive armamentarium. In effort to better understand patient candidacy for the PAP flap we characterized the profunda artery perforators on preoperative imaging.

Methods: A retrospective review was completed of 40 preoperative posterior thigh computed tomography angiographies and magnetic resonance angiographies by four plastic surgeons.

Phonostat: thermostatting phonons in molecular dynamics simulations.

Thermostat algorithms in a molecular dynamics simulation maintain an average temperature of a system by regulating the atomic velocities rather than the internal degrees of freedom. Herein, we present a "phonostat" algorithm that can regulate the total energy in a given internal degree of freedom. In this algorithm, the modal energies are computed at each time step using a mode-tracking scheme and then the system is driven by an external driving force of desired frequency and amplitude.

Use of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation circuit as a bridge to salvage a major upper-extremity replant in a critically ill patient.

Major replantation of the upper extremity is defined as replantation at or above the level of the wrist. Selection of appropriate candidates is complex and requires consideration of many patient- and injury-associated factors including patient age, associated injuries, patient desire, mechanism of injury, ischemia time, wound condition, and presence of multiple-level injury. With respect to age, younger patients, especially children, are deemed to have a distinct advantage over more elderly patients due to improved nerve regeneration, and many advocate making every effort to replant this population.

Anomalous dissipation in single-walled carbon nanotube resonators.

We observe a new anomalous and transient process of intrinsic dissipation in simulations of the ring-down of flexural modes in single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) resonators. The effect is pronounced, causing the quality factor of the mode to be reduced by more that 95% for tens of picoseconds. The anomalous dissipation depends on the CNT temperature and the energy in the mode, and remarkably increasing the excitation energy in the resonator causes it to decay to zero faster.

The NAD biosynthesis inhibitor APO866 has potent antitumor activity against hematologic malignancies.

APO866 inhibits nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NMPRTase), a key enzyme involved in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthesis from the natural precursor nicotinamide. Intracellular NAD is essential for cell survival, and NAD depletion resulting from APO866 treatment elicits tumor cell death. Here, we determine the in vitro and in vivo sensitivities of hematologic cancer cells to APO866 using a panel of cell lines (n = 45) and primary cells (n = 32).

Nanomechanical resonance spectroscopy: a novel route to ultrasensitive label-free detection.

We propose a new chemical detection technique in which an analyte's vibrational frequencies are interrogated directly using an array of nanomechanical resonators. This "nanomechanical resonance spectroscopy" (NRS) could permit label-free chemical detection, combining the high sensitivity of nanomechanical approaches with the high selectivity of traditional spectroscopy. A computational proof of principle is presented, demonstrating the central concept: exploiting resonant exchange of vibrational energy for chemical identification.

Renal cell carcinoma metastatic to the duodenum: treatment by classic pancreaticoduodenectomy and review of the literature.

Renal cell cancer (RCC) most commonly metastasizes to the lungs, bones, liver, renal fossa, and brain, although metastases can occur elsewhere. RCC metastatic to the duodenum is especially rare, with only a small number of cases reported in the literature. Herein, we describe a case of an 86-year-old woman with a history of RCC treated by radical nephrectomy 13 years previously.

Nanomechanical energy transfer and resonance effects in single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to elucidate the important factors in mechanical energy transfer between carbon nanotubes. Our calculations show that sharp resonance effects allow for near complete and highly efficient energy transfer. In addition, the weak coupling between two nanotubes sets the time scale for the energy transfer.