Use Of Vessels Research Articles

Typical solutions for the organization of the transport process and systems in inland waterway transport

The necessity of making standard decisions in the organization of transport processes and systems is substantiated. The use of them allows you to reduce the time for their development and avoid mistakes during implementation in the operational activities of shipping companies. In addition, it is necessary to monitor the progress of the task, since there is a certain time period during which changes in the production conditions of transport can occur. Situations, their dynamism in time and space, indicators of the organization of transport activities are subject to assessment. This is the relevance of this work. For its implementation within the framework of the shipping company, appropriate organizational-technical and organizational-economic measures of a general nature are recommended. In this regard, the specific, most important tasks are considered: 1) justification of schemes and methods of organizing transportation and fleet operations; 2) development of requirements for vessels for use in the main directions of cargo transportation; 3) justification of the rational scope of use of types of vessels and convoys in cargo transportation; 4) optimization of standard convoys and determination of their list in the main directions of cargo transportation; 5) optimization of the layout plan of vessels and convoys by work areas and directions of transportation, taking into account the distribution by navigation periods; 6) justification of the operating mode of engines and the movement of tugboats with a composition. To solve them, methodological tools have been developed, the basis of which are scientific approaches and principles, methods and models of mathematical programming, features of operational and economic justification for water transport. The results of its implementation are the proposed standard solutions in the field of organization of the transport process and systems in inland waterway transport, scientifically based proposals and recommendations for choosing a strategy for using the fleet in cargo transportation and its distribution by navigation periods.

Verification of the safety of storing a pair of pressure vessels

This article deals with the calculation of pressure vessels for beer maturation using analytical calcula-tion according to ČSN standards and with the help of commercial software PVESS. The article pre-sents commonly used procedures in the design of pressure vessels, resp. vessels for use in the brewing industry in the assembly of pressure vessels stacked on top of each other. The article describes the main parts of the brewery tanks, including the procedure for their design. The choice of materials used, the choice of basic dimensions of pressure vessels was determined in the work. The tank vessel is made of stainless steel 1.4301 or 1.4541. The advantages of this material in the brewing industry are also presented. From the given input parameters, a control calculation of the strength of pressure vessels was performed. The result of the work was the verification of the calculation, finding out the deviations of the measurements using mathematical software with a common calculation according to the valid standards for the calculation of pressure vessels.

Validation of a Microsurgery Simulation for Use in an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Training Curriculum

BackgroundApplications of microsurgery are evolving and expanding within oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS).1 While a variety of surgical subspecialties are embracing microsurgery as a core component of their training programs, a validated microsurgery curriculum in the OMS specialty is lacking. Microsurgery requires fine motor skills developed with consistent practice and frequent exposure, which is ideally obtained early in training and developed over time and experience. Unfortunately, many barriers exist that limit residents from achieving early exposure and competence in microsurgery upon residency graduation.2 The objective of this study was to evaluate 2 low-cost microscopes and 2 simulation vessels for use in a training curriculum. The primary outcome was readiness of the simulation to be used in a microsurgical curriculum. Secondary outcomes were realism, value, usefulness, difficulty, and cost of the simulation. MethodsA microvascular anastomosis simulation exercise was developed. Seven surgeons were tasked with completing an end-to-end anastomosis on both a silicone vessel and a chicken thigh femoral artery vessel on 2 table-top microscopes. These microscopes were a monocular digital microscope (Plugable USB 2.0 Digital Microscope) and a binocular stereo microscope (AmScope 7x-45x Stereo Binocular Microscope). The surgeons comprising the expert panel were all microvascular-trained surgeons in the departments of oral and maxillofacial surgery (n = 5), plastic and reconstructive surgery (n = 1), and otolaryngology (n = 1). The surgeons performed the simulation independently, without an assistant. Upon completion of the simulation, the surgeons were asked to complete a survey to evaluate the simulation across multiple domains. Likert responses were coded into numeric values (e.g., “strongly disagree” = 1, “somewhat disagree” = 2, etc.), and means and standard deviations were reported. Paired T-tests were used to compare responses to analogous questions regarding the microscopes and simulation vessels. Analyses were performed in SAS V9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). ResultsSeven surgeons completed the simulation exercise and survey. The stereo microscope simulation scored significantly higher in “readiness for use” in a microsurgery curriculum than the digital microscope (P = .002). All 7 surgeons indicated that the stereo microscope simulation, in conjunction with silicone and chicken vessels, could be used in a microsurgery curriculum in its current state (n = 4) or with minimal modification (n = 3). All 7 respondents indicated that the digital microscope simulation required considerable modification (n = 4) or extensive modification with re-evaluation (n = 3) before use. The stereo microscope significantly outperformed the digital microscope in depth perception (P < .001), field of view (P = .038), lighting (P = .038), and clarity (P = .030). The respondents strongly agreed that the binocular microscope was a low-cost and high-value training simulation (mean: 4.86 out of 5.00, SD = 0.38). Both microscopes were “very useful” for practicing microsurgical technique, allowing early access to training and improving hand-eye coordination. The chicken vessel significantly outperformed the silicone vessel in realism of tissue handling (P < .001), passing the needle (P = .007), vessel orientation (P = .035), and knot-tying (P = .005). ConclusionA microsurgical training curriculum using the stereo or digital table-top microscopes in conjunction with chicken thigh or silicone vessels demonstrates value for OMS residency education, with the stereo microscope and the chicken thigh outperforming their counterparts. The microsurgery simulation is a low-cost, high-value option that is ready for use in microsurgery training.

Toilet Injuries Presenting to Emergency Departments, 2000-2019: A Different Game of Thrones.

Toilet training is a major developmental milestone. Unsupervised periods combined with immature gross and fine motor skills may lead to toddler injuries during toilet training. Our aim was to investigate toilet-related injuries (TIs) in children. Data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System were used to evaluate emergency department encounters of children ages 0 to 6 years with TI from 2000 to 2019. There were an estimated 142,606 children (95% confidence interval, 115,599-168,613) who presented to the emergency department for TI. Toilets were involved in 95% of injuries, and other potty chairs (PCs) involved 5% of injuries. Children had higher odds of sustaining head injury while using a toilet versus PC (adjusted odds ratio = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.06-3.45). Toilet-related injuries present a high burden of risk to young children. Our data support that the safest vessel for use in toilet training is a PC/training seat as opposed to the toilet.

Tissue engineered bovine saphenous vein extracellular matrix scaffolds produced via antigen removal achieve high in vivo patency rates

Diseases of small diameter blood vessels encompass the largest portion of cardiovascular diseases, with over 4.2 million people undergoing autologous vascular grafting every year. However, approximately one third of patients are ineligible for autologous vascular grafting due to lack of suitable donor vasculature. Acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds derived from xenogeneic vascular tissue have potential to serve as ideal biomaterials for production of off-the-shelf vascular grafts capable of eliminating the need for autologous vessel harvest. A modified antigen removal (AR) tissue process, employing aminosulfabetaine-16 (ASB-16) was used to create off-the-shelf small diameter (< 3 mm) vascular graft from bovine saphenous vein ECM scaffolds with significantly reduced antigenic content, while retaining native vascular ECM protein structure and function. Elimination of native tissue antigen content conferred graft-specific adaptive immune avoidance, while retention of native ECM protein macromolecular structure resulted in pro-regenerative cellular infiltration, ECM turnover and innate immune self-recognition in a rabbit subpannicular model. Finally, retention of the delicate vascular basement membrane protein integrity conferred endothelial cell repopulation and 100% patency rate in a rabbit jugular interposition model, comparable only to Autograft implants. Alternatively, the lack of these important basement membrane proteins in otherwise identical scaffolds yielded a patency rate of only 20%. We conclude that acellular antigen removed bovine saphenous vein ECM scaffolds have potential to serve as ideal off-the-shelf small diameter vascular scaffolds with high in vivo patency rates due to their low antigen content, retained native tissue basement membrane integrity and preserved native ECM structure, composition and functional properties. Statement of significanceThe use of autologous vessels for the treatment of small diameter vascular diseases is common practice. However, the use of autologous tissue poses significant complications due to tissue harvest and limited availability. Developing an alternative vessel for use for the treatment of small diameter vessel diseases can potentially increase the success rate of autologous vascular grafting by eliminating complications related to the use of autologous vessel and increased availability. This manuscript demonstrates the potential of non-antigenic extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds derived from xenogeneic vascular tissue as off-the-shelf vascular grafts for the treatment of small diameter vascular diseases.

Development of an Autonomous Surface Vessel for Use as a Drone Base Station

Development of an Autonomous Surface Vessel for Use as a Drone Base Station

Fabricating Novel PDMS Vessels for Phantoms in Photoplethysmography Investigations.

This paper introduces a novel technique for the development of custom polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) vessels for use in phantom technologies. The method involves continuous dip coating of commercial silicone tubes with rapid curation in a single controlled process. The technique accommodates the production of different vessel diameters, wall thicknesses (56 µm-80 µm) and mechanical properties. Clear phantoms were fabricated to compare the commercial silicone tubes against the customs vessels. A pulsatile fluidic pump (BDCLabs, CO, USA) driven by a computer controlled linear motor generated the pulsatile flow through the phantom. The resulting flow profile, using the custom vessels, simulates human blood flow and the detected contact PPG signal from the phantom closely resembles the morphology of in vivo PPG waveforms with signal-to-noise ratios of 38.16 dB and 40.59 dB, compared to the closest commercially-available tubing at 5.38 dB and 10.59 dB for the red and infrared wavelengths respectively. The rigidity and thick walls of commercial silicone tubes impede the expansion of the tubing under systolic pressure. This technique eliminates this common limitation in phantom development.

On the surface: an ethnoarchaeological study of marginalised pottery production and the social context of pottery surface treatments in Tigray Regional State, northern highland Ethiopia

ABSTRACTPottery surface treatments are considered essential to waterproofing and strengthening low-fired porous pots, and they add characteristic elements of colour and texture to pottery assemblages. However, surface treatments do not receive the same attention as other stages of pottery chaînes opératoires in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in terms of the social context of production, how technological treatments vary across an assemblage, contribute to flavour and address ecological concerns and ontological perspectives. This paper presents an ethnoarchaeological study of the continuum of potter and customer surface treatments that are applied to pots to specialise vessels for use in regional culinary practices in three sub-regions of Tigray Regional state in northern highland Ethiopia. The choice of surface treatments and their application methods may further protect consumers from the perceived dangers that society attributes to these marginalised artisans.

Обґрунтування вибору судна для фрахтування на умовах тайм-чартеру з урахуванням можливості його використання для перевезень негабаритних вантажів

In shipping practice, there are often situations when bulk carriers or container ships engaging for transportation of oversized project cargoes despite the fact that type, design and constructional features of these vessels are not convenient and optimal for such kind of transportation. In most cases, in order adapt non-specialized vessels for the transportation of heavy and oversized cargoes, special researches are required which are aimed at optimizing the loading process, stowage techniques and securing arrangements of the cargo, assessing the seaworthiness, strength, stability and safety of the vessel. In some cases, it may be necessary to justify additional measures concerned at modernizing, reconstructing or strengthening the structural elements of the vessel. Typically, such measures are associated with additional costs and increased delivery time. However, in some cases deploy of non-specialized vessels is more expedient from an economic point of view than the use of specialized ones. This is due to the specifics of the development of the global economy and the geography of freight distribution. Thus, the countries of Southeast Asia are one of the world's largest importers of bulk cargo, as well as exporters of significant volumes of project cargo. Therefore, it is quite complicated for bulk carriers delivered bulk commodities to China or Korea to find appropriate cargo on a way back and they forced to return ballasted. Although most of these vessels are not suitable for carriage of oversized and heavy project cargoes, in some cases it may economically attractive to use these vessels for transportation of project cargo than to perform ballast passage. In view of above, very relevant area of research is the development and improvement of methods to increase the efficiency of shipping in areas where the structure of cargo flows is heterogeneous. One of the possible measures aimed at improving the economic efficiency of shipping, is to slow down the ship’s speed. In such way while choosing a vessel for use in the conditions of available cargo flow, the actual benefit that can be received due to the optimum choice of the vessel’s speed mode. The aim of this work is to develop a methodology for substantiating the choice of vessels for chartering on a time charter basis, taking into account the possibility of their operation for transportation of oversized project cargo and work at slow speeds.

Small Diameter Xenogeneic Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds for Vascular Applications.

Currently, despite the success of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) remains among the most commonly performed cardiac surgical procedures in the United States. Unfortunately, the use of autologous grafts in CABG presents a major clinical challenge as complications due to autologous vessel harvest and limited vessel availability pose a significant setback in the success rate of CABG surgeries. Acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds derived from xenogeneic vascular tissues have the potential to overcome these challenges, as they offer unlimited availability and sufficient length to serve as "off-the-shelf" CABGs. Unfortunately, regardless of numerous efforts to produce a fully functional small diameter xenogeneic ECM scaffold, the combination of factors required to overcome all failure mechanisms in a single graft remains elusive. This article covers the major failure mechanisms of current xenogeneic small diameter vessel ECM scaffolds, and reviews the recent advances in the field to overcome these failure mechanisms and ultimately develop a small diameter ECM xenogeneic scaffold for CABG. Impact Statement Currently, the use of autologous vessel in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is common practice. However, the use of autologous tissue poses significant complications due to tissue harvest and limited availability. Developing an alternative vessel for use in CABG can potentially increase the success rate of CABG surgery by eliminating complications related to the use of autologous vessel. However, this development has been hindered by an array of failure mechanisms that currently have not been overcome. This article describes the currently identified failure mechanisms of small diameter vascular xenogeneic extracellular matrix scaffolds and reviews current research targeted to overcoming these failure mechanisms toward ensuring long-term graft patency.

Construction at Cochin: Building ships at the VOC-yard in Cochin

The port of Cochin on the Malabar Coast of India had always been a centre of shipbuilding. After the Dutch conquest in the port in 1663, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), too, established a shipyard there. At this yard, the VOC experimented with building ocean-going ships until the management of the company decreed that these were to be built solely in the Dutch Republic itself. During the first half of the eighteenth century, the yard focused on the repair of passing Indiamen and the construction of smaller vessels for use in and between the VOC commands in Malabar, Coromandel, Bengal and Sri Lanka. For most of the vessels built during the 1720s and 1730s, detailed accounts exist, allowing for a reconstruction of the costs of the various shipbuilding materials in Malabar, as well as the relative cost of labour. From the 1750s onwards, operations at the yard again become more difficult to discern. Likely, the relative decline of the VOC’s presence in Malabar caused a reduction in operations at the yard, but the shipyard was still in existence when Cochin was captured by British forces in 1795. However, this did not mean the end of Cochin as a shipbuilding centre, as a number or Royal Navy frigates were built at Cochin during the early nineteenth century.

Concise Review: Patency of Small-Diameter Tissue-Engineered Vascular Grafts: A Meta-Analysis of Preclinical Trials.

Several patient groups undergoing small‐diameter (<6 mm) vessel bypass surgery have limited autologous vessels for use as grafts. Tissue‐engineered vascular grafts (TEVG) have been suggested as an alternative, but the ideal TEVG remains to be generated, and a systematic overview and meta‐analysis of clinically relevant studies is lacking. We systematically searched PubMed and Embase databases for (pre)clinical trials and identified three clinical and 68 preclinical trials ([>rabbit]; 873 TEVGs) meeting the inclusion criteria. Preclinical trials represented low to medium risk of bias, and binary logistic regression revealed that patency was significantly affected by recellularization, TEVG length, TEVG diameter, surface modification, and preconditioning. In contrast, scaffold types were less important. The patency was 63.5%, 89%, and 100% for TEVGs with a median diameter of 3 mm, 4 mm, and 5 mm, respectively. In the group of recellularized TEVGs, patency was not improved by using smooth muscle cells in addition to endothelial cells nor affected by the endothelial origin, but seems to benefit from a long‐term (46–240 hours) recellularization time. Finally, data showed that median TEVG length (5 cm) and median follow‐up (56 days) used in preclinical settings are relatively inadequate for direct clinical translation. In conclusion, our data imply that future studies should consider a TEVG design that at least includes endothelial recellularization and bioreactor preconditioning, and we suggest that more standard guidelines for testing and reporting TEVGs in large animals should be considered to enable interstudy comparisons and favor a robust and reproducible outcome as well as clinical translation.

Choice of recipient vessels in muscle-sparing transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap breast reconstruction: A comparative study.

BackgroundThoracodorsal vessels (TDVs) and internal mammary vessels (IMVs) have both been widely employed as recipient vessels for use in free muscle-sparing transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (MS-TRAM) flaps. However, whether TDVs or IMVs are preferable as recipient vessels for autologous breast reconstruction with a free MS-TRAM flap remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes when TDVs were used as recipient vessels to those obtained when IMVs were used as recipient vessels for autologous breast reconstruction with a free MS-TRAM flap.MethodsA retrospective matched-cohort study was performed. We retrospectively reviewed data collected from patients who underwent a free MS-TRAM flap for autologous breast reconstructions after mastectomy between March 2003 and June 2013. After a one-to-one matching using age, 100 autologous breast reconstructions were selected in this study. Of the 100 breast reconstructions, 50 flaps were anastomosed to TDVs and 50 to IMVs. Patient demographics and clinical outcomes including operation time, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and aesthetic score were compared between the two groups.ResultsNo statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in patient demographics and clinical outcomes, including the complication rates and aesthetic scores. There were no major complications such as total or partial flap loss in either group.ConclusionsThe results of our study demonstrate that both TDVs and IMVs were safe and efficient as recipient vessels in terms of the complication rates and aesthetic outcomes.

Analysis of Systems Ensuring the Acquisition of Real-Time Cartographic Navigation Information

Abstract Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS), which are used on vessels and can replace paper charts, allow to obtain and display on electronic charts information from basic and additional data sources. For the certified use of ECDIS instead of paper charts, it is necessary to ensure constant updating of Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC) data provided to vessels for use. The known visual and satellite observation systems intended for cartographic information update are costly, have low accuracy and do not allow to quickly update navigational charts in real-time mode. The stand-alone use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) will make it possible not only to substantially reduce costs and increase the accuracy of monitoring, but also to provide information in real-time mode.

Root Cause Failure Analysis of a Domestic Pressure Cooker Through Metallurgical Characterization and Computational Simulation

Pressure cooker is a closed domestic pressure cooking vessel for use with external heat source and capable of maintaining nominal cooking pressure up to 1.0 kgf/cm2 (100 kN/m2 approximately) gauge nominal. In pressure cookers, despite the development of electronic controllers, the basic edition of such vessels are still equipped with fewer advanced safety functions due to economic constraints. Although the provision of pressure relief valves (PRV) is considered as one of the major protective features, however, pressure cooker failure accidents have been reported frequently. This paper describes the analysis of pressure cooker failure that failed prematurely after 1 year of service considering the design life of > 5 years. It was hypothesized that the root cause of pipe failure was either material degradation from exposure to an aggressive environment or an inherent defect in the pressure cooker. To test this hypothesis, a thorough visual examination of the exhumed failed section and the fracture surface was undertaken, followed by liquid penetrant testing, material identification, hardness testing, and metallographic analysis. Computational models of static and transient loading were also used to determine the stress distribution along the actual geometry of the failed cooker and to understand the main causes of recurrent failures. Visual and macroscale examination revealed significant body deformation at the lower dish-ended shell showing distorted locking grooves. It was also noticed that dirt and food particle, from the earlier cooking, were stuck in the pressure valves orifice. In addition, no evidence of metallurgical defect was observed. The inspection indicated that the cause of failure is primarily due to the choking of pressure relief value (PRV) and overpressure safety valves. Consequently, the pressure release occurred from the sealing side of the top lid, which resulted in its ejection.

A Lifeboat in Stormy Seas: A Vein Graft of Last Resort

Case Presentation: A 57 year old male underwent salvage surgery for recurrent left maxillary sarcoma: orbital exenteration and extensive tissue resection, including loss of the original flap. The defect was reconstructed with a large right osteocutaneous scapula flap, which failed at postoperative day 4 due to sepsis. At postoperative day 14, the patient underwent tertiary reconstruction with a fasciocutaneous anterolateral thigh flap. The internal and external jugular veins were found to be unsuitable recipient vessels, so an interpositional vein graft (IVG) was planned. The left cephalic, then right saphenous veins were exposed in turn: both were unsuitable because of previous vascular access procedures. The right superficial inferior epigastric vein (SIEV) was harvested, providing 14 centimetres of vessel for use as an IVG. The flap was successful, and the patient was discharged 14 days later.

Development of polyvinyl alcohol cyrogel based anatomically realistic vessels for use in Doppler ultrasound flow phantoms

Polyvinyl alcohol cyrogel (PVA-C) is commonly utilised in ultrasound flow phantoms due to its variable Young’s modulus, which can be manipulated through successive freeze-thaw cycles. Vessel mimicking material (VMM) was prepared using PVA-C with varying concentrations of Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) to optimise the production. These samples were characterised acoustically and mechanically to determine the optimum concentrations of constituent chemicals to adequately mimic the properties of healthy and diseased vessels found in vivo. The optimised mixture was determined using a PVA-C sample prepared after two freeze-thaw cycles, with a speed of sound of 1530 ± 5 m/s and an attenuation of 0.521 ± 0.02 dB cm−1 MHz−1. In addition, this material was used in a series of experiments to test a new approach to the production of anatomically realistic soft plaques in flow phantoms. Current research into plaque characteristics in Doppler flow phantoms has been limited to the use of wedges of PVA-C which are subjected to more (hard plaques) or fewer (soft plaques) freeze thaw cycles than the surrounding vessel [1] . A novel approach to the production of soft plaques is presented where cod liver oil capsules are embedded in the tissue. Following the production of the flow phantom, the gelatine capsules can be breached and liquefied by placing the entire phantom in a heated water bath; this leaves the cod liver oil encased in the vessel by a thin layer of PVA-C. By replacing the cod liver oil with a soft lipid mimicking fluid, anatomically realistic plaques can be constructed.

Captain William Adams senior: whaling Master

ABSTRACTCaptain William Adams (1837–1890) was one of the exceptional whaling masters who sailed from Dundee in Scotland. This paper uses primary sources to confirm his reputation not only as a whaler but also as an adventurous explorer and wealthy businessman. He became outstandingly successful with Alexander Stephen &amp; Sons, the Dundee shipping company that pioneered the use of auxiliary powered vessels for use in sealing in Labrador and fishing for whales in the Davis Strait and beyond. His first command was the Arctic in 1868, and his reputation was such that he was chosen by Albert Hastings Markham as his mentor in gaining experience for polar exploration. The unfortunate loss of the Arctic in Regent Sound in 1875 did no damage to this reputation and Adams was made Master of the newly built flagship of the company's fleet, the Arctic II. In 1883, by then a rich man, Adams became his own Master with the purchase of the Maud. In 1890, the vessel was returning to Dundee from Arctic waters when Captain Adams, who was accompanied by his son also William Adams (1869–1942) acting as Mate, was taken fatally ill, dying at Thurso in Caithness.

Computed tomography angiographic study of internal mammary perforators and their use as recipient vessels for free tissue transfer in breast reconstruction.

Context:The internal mammary artery perforator vessels (IMPV) as a recipient in free flap breast reconstruction offer advantages over the more commonly used thoracodorsal vessels and the internal mammary vessels (IMV).Aims:This study was designed to assess the anatomical consistency of the IMPV and the suitability of these vessels for use as recipients in free flap breast reconstruction.Patients and Methods:Data from ten randomly selected female patients who did not have any chest wall or breast pathology but had undergone a computed tomography angiography (CTA) for unrelated diagnostic reasons from April 2013 to October 2013 were analysed. Retrospective data of seven patients who had undergone mastectomy for breast cancer and had been primarily reconstructed with a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator free flap transfer using the IMPV as recipient vessels were studied.Results:The CTA findings showed that the internal mammary perforator was consistently present in all cases bilaterally. In all cases, the dominant perforator arose from the upper four intercostal spaces (ICS) with the majority (55%) arising from the 2nd ICS. The mean distance of the perforators from the sternal border at the level of pectoralis muscle surface on the right side was 1.86 cm (range: 0.9–2.5 cm) with a mode value of 1.9 cm. On the left side, a mean of 1.77 cm (range: 1.5–2.1 cm) and a mode value of 1.7 cm were observed. Mean perforator artery diameters on the right and left sides were 2.2 mm and 2.4 mm, respectively.Conclusions:Though the internal mammary perforators are anatomically consistent, their use as recipients in free tissue transfer for breast reconstruction eventually rests on multiple variables.

Integrated analysis of drag embedment anchor installation

During installation of drag embedment anchors (DEAs), the anchor, tensioned mooring line and anchor-handling vessel interact with each other and make up an integrated system. This paper presents an integrated quasi-static model for the anchor, line and vessel for use in simulating the installation of DEAs by moving vessels or stationary vessels. The differences in the anchor׳s kinematic trajectory, line profiles and tension distributions for these two installation methods were analyzed. The examples indicate that there is a line length for each installation method that optimizes the installation efficiency. The effects of different types and lengths of lines, different types of soil behavior and different fluke–shank angles are also considered in the practical suggestions given for DEA installation.