Organo-Chlorinated Thin Films Deposited by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition for Adhesion Enhancement between Rubber and Zinc-Plated Steel Monofilaments.

A continuous-flow plasma process working at atmospheric pressure is developed to enhance the adhesion between a rubber compound and a zinc-plated steel monofilament, with the long-term objective to find a potential alternative to the electrolytic brass plating process, which is currently used in tire industry. For this purpose, a highly efficient tubular dielectric barrier discharge reactor is built to allow the continuous treatment of "endless" cylindrical substrates. The best treatment conditions found regarding adhesion are Ar/O2 plasma pretreatment, followed by the deposition from dichloromethane of a 75 nm-thick organo-chlorinated plasma polymerized thin film.

Hepaticoportal fistula and portal hypertension.

A large intrahepatic fistula between the hepatic artery and portal vein was detected at angiography in a patient with portal hypertension and bleeding esophageal varices. Hemodynamic studies demonstrated that increased vascular resistance in the liver rather than increased flow through the fistula was responsible for the portal hypertension and a portocaval shunt was performed. A repeat angiogram two months after the operation showed that the fistula had closed spontaneously.