Wooden Chopstick Research Articles

Detection of gastrointestinal foreign bodies in pets using single-grid-based dark-field X-ray imaging

Gastrointestinal foreign bodies (GI-FBs) occur when pets consume non-digestible items that do not readily pass through the stomach or intestines. While some GI-FBs pass through, many become lodged along the gastrointestinal tract and cause discomfort, often leading to sickness. Conventional absorption-based radiography is widely used to detect GI-FBs in pets. However, detecting low-density FBs, such as wood, plastic, clothing, and sticks, is typically difficult using conventional radiography. This study presents a novel approach for detecting low-density GI-FBs in pets by using single-grid-based dark-field X-ray imaging (SG-DFXI). It obtains microstructural information from small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) of the sample using a conventional X-ray source and grid. SG-DFXI requires minimal exposure and system setup and is specifically utilized to detect low-density materials that are invisible when using conventional radiography. To validate the efficacy of the proposed method, an experiment was conducted on a mouse phantom attached to a wooden chopstick as a low-density GI-FB. Quantitative evaluation was performed using image quality metrics of the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and relative contrast gain (RCG). The CNR value measured in the dark-field image obtained with an autocorrelation length of ξG = 294 nm was 4.59, approximately 5.4 times larger than that of the absorption image obtained in the same imaging setup. In addition, the RCG characteristics improved as the autocorrelation length of the system increased; the RCG value for ξG = 294 nm was 5.4, approximately 3.2 times larger than that for ξG = 194 nm. Thus, increasing the autocorrelation length of the system is critical to improve its ability to detect low-density FBs. Consequently, SG-DFXI appears to be a promising method that can be used effectively and easily to detect GI-FBs in pets, which are barely visible in absorption images.

Facial feedback effect on the sense of body ownership during the rubber hand illusion.

The sense of body ownership, a feeling that one's body belongs to the self, is an essential aspect of self-consciousness. Studies have focused on emotions and bodily states that could influence multisensory integration for the sense of body ownership. Based on the Facial Feedback Hypothesis, the purpose of this study was to examine whether displaying specific facial expressions affects the rubber hand illusion. We hypothesized that the expression of a smiling face changes the emotional experience and facilitates the formation of a sense of body ownership. In the experiment, participants (n = 30) were asked to hold a wooden chopstick in their mouths to simulate smile, neutral, and disgusted facial expressions during the induction of the rubber hand illusion. The results did not support the hypothesis, showing that proprioceptive drift (an index of illusory experience) was enhanced when the subjects displayed a disgusted facial expression, while the subjective reports of the illusion were not affected. These results, together with the previous studies regarding the effect of positive emotions, suggest that bodily affective information, regardless of its valence, facilitates multisensory integration and could influence the conscious representation of the bodily self.

Penetration Injury Caused by a Wooden Chopstick That Led to Masticator Space Infection: A Case Report

Penetrating injuries of the face are commonly observed in the emergency room (ER). It is difficult to identify foreign substances in the face when the wound opening is small with insufficient operative field exposure. Furthermore, wood is not easily detected on computed tomography (CT), performed as the first assessment for facial trauma. A 47-year-old woman visited the ER with a 0.5-cm open wound in the left temporal area. She stated that the wound was caused by a wooden chopstick, which had already been removed. No other specific findings were observed on frontal plane skull radiographs; the patient was discharged after primary closure. Approximately 14 days later, she revisited the ER complaining of extensive swelling and erythema in the left cheek. Enhanced facial CT revealed an extensive abscess in the left masticator space. Incision and drainage were performed in the extraoral and intraoral regions; however, no improvement was observed. Follow-up ultrasonography revealed a foreign body in the left cheek. Under general anesthesia, exploration was performed under the temporalis plane; several wooden chopstick pieces amounting to a total length of almost 11 cm were found and removed. It is important to identify foreign bodies in wounds caused by wooden chopsticks using various imaging studies.

Valorization of spent disposable wooden chopstick as the CO2 adsorbent for a CO2/H2 mixed gas purification

A series of activated carbons (ACs) derived from spent disposable wooden chopsticks was prepared via steam activation and used to separate carbon dioxide (CO2) from a CO2/hydrogen (H2) mixed gas at atmospheric pressure. A factorial design was employed to investigate the effects of the activation temperature and time as well as their interactions on the production yield of ACs and their CO2 adsorption capacity. The activation temperature exhibited a much higher impact on both the production yield and the CO2 adsorption capacity of ACs than the activation time. The interaction of both parameters did not significantly affect the yield of ACs, but did affect the CO2 adsorption capacity. The optimal preparation condition provided ACs with a desirable yield of around 23.18% and a CO2 adsorption capacity of 85.19 mg/g at 25 °C and 1 atm and consumed the total energy of 225.28 MJ/kg AC or 116.4 MJ/g-mol CO2. A H2 purity of greater than 96.8 mol% was achieved from a mixed gas with low CO2 concentration (< 20 mol%) during the first 3 min of adsorption and likewise around 90 mol% from a mixed gas with a high CO2 concentration (> 30 mol%) during the first 2 min. The CO2 adsorption on the as-prepared ACs proceeded dominantly via multilayer physical adsorption and was affected by both the surface area and micropore volume of the ACs. The adsorption capacity was diminished by around 18% after six adsorption/desorption cycles. The regeneration of the as-prepared chopstick-derived ACs can be easily performed via heating at a low temperature and ambient pressure, suggesting their potential application in the temperature swing adsorption process.

Adsorptive purification of CO2/H2 gas mixtures of spent disposable wooden chopstick-derived activated carbon: Optimal synthesis condition

The production of fossil fuel-based H2 by steam reforming and water–gas shift reactions gives the reformed gas containing both hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2). To get pure H2, the CO2 must be removed. In this work, the CO2 was selectively separated from the gas mixture of CO2 and H2 by adsorption process using the spent disposable wooden chopstick (SWC)-derived activated carbon (AC) synthesized by the chemical activation. An appropriate condition for biochar preparation was first explored and then the chemical activation was carried out. Two types of activation chemicals (ZnCl2 and KOH) were employed to activate the biochar at different temperatures (500 – 800 °C). Effects of activation holding time (60 – 150 min) and activation chemical to biochar weight ratio (0.5 – 2.5) were also investigated. The optimal condition for biochar preparation was found at 500 °C and 15 min which can provide the AC yield of 29.5% and CO2 adsorption capacity of 19.2 mg/g from the gas mixtures with 50 mol% CO2 at 25 °C and 1 atm. The AC synthesized by the KOH activation at 700 °C using a KOH/biochar weight ratio of 1.5 for 90 min exhibited the highest CO2 adsorption of 115.7 mg/g for the first use and dropped approximately 20% after 6 adsorption/desorption cycles. Based on the perspective Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation, the best synthesized AC exhibited the selectivity of CO2 adsorption 17.6 times higher than that of H2. The adsorption behavior and kinetic model of CO2 adsorption followed the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-2nd order model, respectively and the CO2 adsorption occurred via the combined physical and chemical mechanism.

A case of unsuspected trans-orbital-cranial penetrating injury by a wooden chopstick in a one-year-old infant

A case of unsuspected trans-orbital-cranial penetrating injury by a wooden chopstick in a one-year-old infant

Duodenal perforation nine months after accidental foreign body ingestion, a case report

BackgroundForeign body ingestion is a scenario occasionally encountered in the emergency room. Pediatric and psychiatric patients are the two most common populations suffering from accidental or in some cases intentional ingestion of foreign bodies. Commonly, majority of cases require no specific treatment and the swallowed objects pass through the digestive tract spontaneously without causing any significant complications. Less than 1% of the cases complicates with gastrointestinal tract perforation, which are often caused by sharp objects, which warrants surgical intervention. The average time from foreign body ingestion to development of perforation was noted at 10.4 days in previous reports. These cases often present in rapidly progressing peritonitis and are subsequently managed by emergent laparotomy. In this case report, we describe an accidental chopstick ingestion of a patient who initially was misdiagnosed and remained asymptomatic for nine months, then presented with acute abdomen.Case presentationA 27-year-old man accidentally ingested a wooden chopstick and sought consult at a clinic. Negative abdominal plain film misled the physician to believe ingested chopstick was digested into fragments and passed out unnoticed. The patient presented acute abdomen caused by duodenal perforation nine months later and was subsequently treated with emergency laparotomy with primary duodenorrhaphy.ConclusionsNegative plain films are not sufficient to conclude a conservative treatment in foreign body ingestion. Computed tomography scan or endoscopic examinations should be done to rule out retained foreign body within gastrointestinal tract.

Forming Facial Expressions Influences Assessment of Others' Dominance but Not Trustworthiness.

Forming specific facial expressions influences emotions and perception. Bearing this in mind, studies should be reconsidered in which observers expressing neutral emotions inferred personal traits from the facial expressions of others. In the present study, participants were asked to make happy, neutral, and disgusted facial expressions: for “happy,” they held a wooden chopstick in their molars to form a smile; for “neutral,” they clasped the chopstick between their lips, making no expression; for “disgusted,” they put the chopstick between their upper lip and nose and knit their brows in a scowl. However, they were not asked to intentionally change their emotional state. Observers judged happy expression images as more trustworthy, competent, warm, friendly, and distinctive than disgusted expression images, regardless of the observers' own facial expression. Observers judged disgusted expression images as more dominant than happy expression images. However, observers expressing disgust overestimated dominance in observed disgusted expression images and underestimated dominance in happy expression images. In contrast, observers with happy facial forms attenuated dominance for disgusted expression images. These results suggest that dominance inferred from facial expressions is unstable and influenced by not only the observed facial expression, but also the observers' own physiological states.

A Pediatric Case of a Foreign Body (Piece of Wooden Chopstick) Embedded in the Epipharynx after Piercing the Soft Palate

A Pediatric Case of a Foreign Body (Piece of Wooden Chopstick) Embedded in the Epipharynx after Piercing the Soft Palate

軟口蓋から上咽頭に刺入した小児咽頭菜箸異物例

軟口蓋から上咽頭に刺入した小児咽頭菜箸異物例

Transnasal penetrating intracranial injury with a chopstick

We report the first case of a transnasal penetrating intracranial injury in Hong Kong by a chopstick. A 49-year-old man attempted suicide by inserting a wooden chopstick into his left nose and then pulled it out. The chopstick caused a transnasal penetrating brain injury, confirmed by contrast magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. He was managed conservatively. Later he developed meningitis without a brain abscess and was prescribed antibiotics for 6 weeks. He enjoyed a good neurological recovery. This case illustrates that clinician should have a high index of suspicion for penetrating intracranial injury due to a nasally inserted foreign body, even though it had already been removed. In such cases moreover, brain magnetic resonance imaging is the imaging modality of choice, as it can delineate the path of penetration far better than plain computed tomography.

Residual foreign body in the neck after trauma results in the delayed rupture of the common carotid and internal jugular vein: a case report

IntroductionTrauma and foreign body residue occurring in different settings are common in the neck. Some small injuries go unrecognized, and vascular injuries caused by the sharp penetrating trauma of a foreign body are very dangerous. Without early diagnosis and treatment, foreign body residue remains a major cause of mortality.Case presentationA six-cm piece of wooden chopstick was not initially detected in the neck of a 24-year-old Chinese man presenting with a slight bleeding wound after a brawl accident. Three days later, the patient had an expanding neck hematoma and shortness of breath. Computed tomography revealed a dense shadow in the soft tissue of the left side of the patient’s neck, and surgical exploration found that a residual broken chopstick had resulted in a delayed rupture of the common carotid artery and internal jugular vein.ConclusionA residual foreign body should be seriously considered after neck trauma because it can result in a lethal hemorrhage originating from a delayed rupture of blood vessels.

Cervical impalement injury to a child by a chopstick diagnosed with computed tomography and ultrasonography

Injuries penetrating into the floor of the mouth in the oral cavity caused by chopsticks are rare. We report a case of neck impalement injury caused by a wooden chopstick fragment penetrating all the way through the base of the tongue. An 18-month-old boy fell off his chair when he was biting on a wooden chopstick. Four centimeters of the chopstick broke off but could not be found, so he was brought to our emergency department with minor bleeding from the tongue. Computed tomography (CT) revealed that the fragment had penetrated through the tongue into the neck. Ultrasonography (US) revealed that the fragment was in close proximity to the common carotid artery. Surgery for the removal of the chopstick tip was uneventful, with minimal soft tissue trauma. Postoperative progress was satisfactory and without complications. Of particular interest is the sensitivity of US in outlining the broken chopstick fragment lodged in the neck. It is noteworthy that the contrast of the chopstick greatly varied between CT and US.

箸による穿通性頭部外傷例

We report a case of penetrating head injury caused by a chopstick, and report it in the context of the current literature. A two-year-old girl falling on the morning of September 2, 2009, while walking with a chopstick in her mouth got the chopstick stuck in her throat. Her mother, when removing the chopstick, found the tip gone and the girl was seen for the problem. She presented with a contused wound in the left soft palate, but optical fiberscopy showed no foreign substance. Head and neck computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a low-density area breaking into the skull from the atlantooccipital joint, consistent with a wooden chopstick. In joint emergency surgery by the neurosurgery and plastic surgery departments, the soft palate was incised along the median line for enhanced visibility and vertebral body C1 confirmed. The mucosa was incised on the median line and vertebral body C1 confirmed. Desquamation was continued and the foreign object found and removed. Neither the epidural venous plexus or dura was damaged. After lavage, fibrin glue was applied, the wound sewn up, and the surgery completed. The postoperative course was good and the girl was discharged on September 10, postoperative day 8.

Penetrating facial injury from a wooden chopstick

Penetrating facial injury from a wooden chopstick

Removal of a chopstick out of the cavernous sinus, pons, and cerebellar vermis through the superior orbital fissure

Penetrating non-missile orbito cranial injuries are rare in a civilian pediatric setting. We describe a case of a trans-orbital penetration by a wooden chopstick deep down into the cerebellar vermis detected at neuroradiological examination in a child presenting for head injury. The foreign body was successfully pulled out in one piece surgically.

Penetrating Injury of the Upper Cervical Spine by a Chopstick -Case Report-

A 35-year-old man presented with penetrating spinal injury after attempting suicide by stabbing a wooden chopstick into his mouth. The object penetrated the pharynx, and the tip entered the spinal canal of the atlantoaxial vertebrae. Emergent surgery disclosed that the tip of the chopstick had penetrated between the dural sac and the vertebral artery. There was no dural tear or vertebral artery injury. The foreign body was removed successfully from the oral side. He recovered without neurological sequelae.

ヘリカルＣＴが有用であった頚部木片異物例

A 1-year-and-1-month-old boy presented with a wooden foreign body in a right cervical lesion after falling down. The foreign body was the broken tip of a wooden chopstick which was penetrating into his neck. No foreign bodies were reliably detected by plain film. We then used helical CT for the diagnosis of the foreign body. A wooden foreign body, 2.2cm long and 2mm in diameter, like a rod, was shown embedded in his neck by reconstructing 3D images of helical CT. The wooden foreign body was removed through an incision of the neck under general anesthesia.In this case, helical CT was helpful in the diagnosis of a radiolucent wooden foreign body in a cervical lesion.

First Observation of a Wooden Foreign Body in Soft Palate by Means of Synchrotron X-Ray Refraction Contrast

A clear image of a wooden chopstick penetrating the soft palate of a pig-head was obtained using highly coherent synchrotron X-ray. The image was recorded on a mammography film with an intensifying screen at an X-ray energy of 35 keV. The tubular tissues as sieve tubes or ducts in the chopsticks appeared as white-black line images by means of X-ray refraction contrast. This method may enable development of an accurate diagnostic method in the field of penetrating trauma by wood.

幼児咽頭刺傷により破損箸が脊柱管近傍に残存した一例

Injury in the oral cavity is common in infants, but injury penetrating into the deep tissue in the oral cavity is rare. We reported a rare injury penetrating into the paraspinal canal from the mouth by a wooden chopstick. A three-year-old boy fell on his face during dinner, and the wooden chopstick he was using pierced his mouth. The broken chopstick could not be found by X-ray examination, but continuous examination to detect the broken chopstick was necessary to determine penetrating injury into the cavity. On CT examination, the broken chopstick was found in his paraspinal canal, and it was removed by posterior cervical spinal approach. He was discharged without any complications.