Flexible, Elastic, and Superhydrophobic/Superoleophilic Adhesive for Reusable and Durable Water/Oil Separation Coating.

This study investigates a highly flexible/stretchable and mechanically durable superhydrophobic/superoleophilic coating for efficient oil/water separation and oil absorption. The coating is applied via a simple immersion process using a mixed solution of a biocompatible adhesive (ethyl cyanoacrylate, ECA), a highly stretchable polymer (polycaprolactone, PCL), and superhydrophobic/superoleophilic nanoparticles (fluorine-coated silica nanoparticles, F-SiO2 NPs) in a solvent, followed by solvent evaporation and ECA polymerization. Polymerized ECA (poly-ECA) in the coating material strongly adheres the F-SiO2 NPs to the substrate surface, while PCL bestows the rigid poly-ECA with high flexibility. A coated polyurethane sponge exhibits superhydrophobicity (water contact angle of >150°), while retaining robust mechanical stability and flexibility/elasticity. This provides an efficient means of cleaning oil spills with high selectivity, even after mechanical abrasion (>99% separation efficiency is retained after 120 tape test cycles and 50 rubbing test cycles), with excellent reusability.

Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetic Resonance Angiography in Follow-up of Intracranial Aneurysms Treated With Endovascular Coiling: Comparison of Time-of-Flight, Pointwise Encoding Time Reduction With Radial Acquisition, and Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography.

BACKGROUND: The optimal magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) sequence for assessing the aneurysm occlusion state or in-stent flow after endovascular coiling is not well established. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA)-MRA in patients who underwent endovascular coiling relative to that of time-of-flight (TOF)-MRA and contrast-enhanced (CE)-MRA. METHODS: We evaluated the aneurysm occlusion state using digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and MRA. In patients who underwent stent-assisted coiling, we estimated the visibility of in-stent flow. RESULTS: We enrolled 189 patients with assessable TOF, PETRA, and CE-MRAs after coiling. In patients who underwent simple coiling (128 patients), PETRA showed a higher sensitivity in the detection of residual flow than TOF and CE (PETRA, 100%; CE, 83%; TOF, 80%). There were no significant differences in the height of residual flow between DSA (0.68 ± 1.45 mm) and PETRA (0.70 ± 1.50 mm; P = 1.000). In patients who underwent stent-assisted coiling (61 patients), PETRA showed the highest sensitivity (88%) in detecting residual flow (CE, 56%; TOF, 31%). Regarding in-stent flow, PETRA, CE, and TOF showed visual scores of ≥3 with frequencies of 96.7%, 85.2%, and 37.7%, respectively. Relative signal-to-noise ratio of PETRA (0.62 ± 0.18) was significantly higher than that of CE (0.56 ± 0.12) and TOF (0.39 ± 0.12; P < .001 for both). CONCLUSION: PETRA-MRA showed excellent diagnostic performance in terms of residual flow detection and in-stent flow assessment. PETRA could be a versatile alternative sequence for following up patients with coiled aneurysm.

Relation of coronary atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome in asymptomatic subjects: evaluation with coronary CT angiography.

To assess the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and coronary atherosclerosis using coronary CT angiography (CCTA) as the evaluation tool in asymptomatic cardiovascular disease (CVD) free subjects. The presence and extent of coronary atherosclerosis in 755 asymptomatic self-referred subjects were measured using CCTA. The relationships between coronary atherosclerosis, MetS, and other clinical factors were assessed. To further investigate the relationship between MetS and the presence and extent of coronary plaque, subjects were divided into 3 subgroups according to the number of metabolic factors (MF0, 1-2 or ≥ 3) and the number of coronary segments with plaque (segment involvement score: SIS0, 1, ≥ 2). MetS showed significant association with the presence of coronary plaque after adjustment for other clinical factors [odds radio (OR) 1.791 (1.159-2.775), P = 0.009]. Among metabolic components, abdominal obesity and high blood pressure were significantly associated with the presence of coronary plaque [OR 1.708 (1.189-2.455), P = 0.004; OR 1.677 (1.165-2.415), P = 0.005]. Coronary plaque was more frequently found in subgroups with a higher number of metabolic factors (32.4, 36.7 and 52.1 %). Higher SISs were also found in subjects with more MetS components (SIS1: 14.6, 16.2 and 27.2 %; SIS ≥ 2: 17, 19.7 and 23.7 %). In asymptomatic CVD free subjects, MetS and number of metabolic factors were related with an increased risk of the presence and the extent of coronary plaque. Abdominal obesity and high blood pressure were significantly associated with the presence of coronary plaque.