The Effect of Tool Profiles on Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welded Al5052 T-Joints.

Al5052 T butt joints with two skins (5 mm) and one stringer (3 mm) has been successfully welded by friction stir welding (FSW). Notably, this paper has been investigated the effect of tool shape on welded formation mechanism and mechanical properties. The used shapes of tool pin are two types which are cylinder (type 1) and frustum (type 2). Dimension on two types of tool pin shape is respectively pin length of 4.7 mm and pin diameter of frustum type of top (5 mm) and bottom (3 mm). The results of experiment show that inner defects in FSWed T-joints increase significantly in accordance with traverse speed. The maximum tensile strength of welded joint fabricated using type 1 is equivalent to 85% that of the base metal, which is approximately 10% higher than that of type 2. Because welded joint of type 1 has more smoothly plastic flow in comparison with type 2. Consequently, the results show that type 1 is better appropriate for friction stir welded Al5052 T butt joints than type 2.

Surgical ligation of A Large Mastoid Emissary Vein in A Patient Complaining of Pulsatile Tinnitus.

Pulsatile tinnitus is an uncommon symptom characterized by a perceived sound pulsing like a heartbeat. Here, we report an unusual case of a patient with unilateral pulsatile tinnitus caused by a large, prominent mastoid emissary vein (MEV). A 45-year-old woman presented at our hospital with pulsatile tinnitus. She had persistent tinnitus for 20 years, and her symptoms had worsened in the previous 2 years. She said that she perceived a sound pulsing like a heartbeat. She had some hearing impairment in both the ears for a long time owing to long-term otitis media. The temporal bone computed tomography scan showed a large right jugular bulb, and there was a large MEV canal draining into the right sigmoid sinus. Therefore, we decided to perform a large MEV ligation with the planned right tympanoplasty. On follow-up, the patient's pulsatile tinnitus improved completely. According to reviews, this is the first reported case of surgical ligation of a large MEV as a treatment for pulsatile tinnitus; therefore, we report this case with a brief literature review.

Is septal deviation associated with headache?: A nationwide 10-year follow-up cohort study.

To investigate the potential relationship between septal deviation (SD) and headache using nationwide representative cohort sample data.This study used a nationwide cohort sample from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. The cohort sample was composed of 1 million patients, which is obtained by propensity score matching from 2002 to 2013. There were 9171 individuals in the SD group and 28243 in the control or no SD group. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were used to calculate the incidence, survival curve, and hazard ratio of headache for each group.There were no statistically significant differences in sex (P = .7708), age (P = .991), residential area (P = .9626), or socioeconomic status (P = .9982) between the 2 groups. The survival curve between SD and control or no SD showed a statistically significant difference. The adjusted hazard ratio for headache incidence during the 10-year follow-up period of the SD group was 1.37 (95% CI: 1.31-1.43).This cohort study suggests that SD is associated with headache. Therefore, these findings suggest that septoplasty can be considered as 1 of the treatment option in SD patients with headache.

Congenital periauricular fistulas: possible variants of the preauricular sinus.

OBJECTIVE: Although most preauricular sinuses are located near the anterior limb of the ascending helix, some are located in unusual areas around the auricle, as shown previously in limited reports. This study analyzed the clinical manifestations of congenital periauricular fistulas with unusual fistula locations and the possible relationship with the classical preauricular sinus. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent congenital periauricular sinus excision by three surgeons and followed them for more than 6 months. Clinical manifestations were compared between classical preauricular sinus (classical group) and congenital periauricular fistula (variant group) patients. RESULTS: The classical and variant groups included 192 and 20 ears each, respectively. In the variant group, the fistula locations were in the ascending helix crus (15 ears, most common), infra-auricular area (3 ears), supra-auricular area (1 ear), and anterior to tragus (1 ear). In ears with fistulas in the ascending helix crus, the fistulous tract most often showed a medial direction (9 ears). There were 4 ears in the variant group with fistulous tracts running toward the postauricular area. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital periauricular fistulas can be located anywhere around the auricle, and also considered the variant of preauricular sinus because the whole tracts were limited to lateral side of temporalis muscle and parotid gland as well as not associated with external auditory canal and facial nerve. Among them, the most common variant was a fistula on the ascending helix crus with short fistulous tract directed medially.

An efficient microvascular anastomosis training model based on chicken wings and simple instruments.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to introduce a microvascular training model based on use of materials that can be easily obtained from the daily surroundings. METHODS: Simple microinstruments and a medical school laboratory microscope were used for anastomosis training. Chicken blood vessels were used as a material for this study. A long segment of blood vessel from the proximal brachial artery to the distal radial artery was used for training. End-to-side anastomosis was practiced first, and the training continued with end-to-end anastomosis of the appropriate segments. RESULTS: The instruments used for setting up this model were simple and easy to use; therefore, the time required for preparation of the materials and dissection of the chicken wings was only approximately five to ten minutes. The characteristics of 20 chicken wings were analyzed. The length of the brachial artery to the radial artery was 8 - 10 cm. The average diameter of the brachial artery was 1.3 mm ± 0.2 mm and that of the radial artery was 1.0 mm ± 0.2 mm. Taking advantage of these characteristics, the proximal brachial artery was grafted to the radial artery for practice of end-to-side anastomosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests an effective and feasible method for microvascular anastomosis training using chicken wing arteries and simple microinstruments. This model may simulate the conditions of a superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery anastomosis surgery.

Chemical composition and anti-inflammatory effects of essential oil from Farfugium japonicum flower.

In this study, the chemical composition and anti-inflammatory activities of hydrodistilled essential oil from Farfugium japonicum were investigated for the first time. The chemical constituents of the essential oil were further analyzed by GC-MS and included 1-undecene (22.43%), 1-nonene (19.83%), beta-caryophyllene (12.26%), alpha-copaene (3.70%), gamma-curcumene (2.86%), germacrene D (2.69%), and 1-decene (2.08%). The effects of the essential oil on nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages were also examined. The results indicate that the F. japonicum essential oil is an effective inhibitor of LPS-induced NO and PGE(2) production in RAW 264.7 cells. These inhibitory effects of the F. japonicum essential oil were accompanied by dose-dependent decreases in the iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression. In order to determine whether F. japonicum essential oil can safely be applied to human skin, the cytotoxic effects of F. japonicum essential oil were determined by colorimetric MTT assays in human dermal fibroblast and keratinocyte HaCaT cells. F. japonicum essential oil exhibited low cytotoxicity at 100 mug/mL. Based on these results, we suggest that F. japonicum essential oil may be considered a potential anti-inflammatory candidate for topical application.