This homemade transumbilical port offers a safe, reliable, flexible, and cost-effective access for LESS procedures. This technique may be an alternative for current specialized port systems.

The synthesis and characterization of ordered, lamellar, iron oxide/surfactant composites in which the iron oxide layer thickness is selectively varied are presented. These new materials are prepared by the controlled precipitation and hydrolysis of aqueous iron cations into self-assembled iron/surfactant arrays. The use of redox chemistry to alter the solubility of iron oxide and thus control hydrolysis, solubility, and inorganic layer thickness is a key feature of the synthesis procedure. The composites show a layered structure as determined by X-ray diffraction and can be produced with approximately 3 to nearly 20 Å of iron oxide in alternation with surfactant bilayers. For samples with 10 Å or thicker iron oxide layers, magnetic susceptibility measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy indicate the presence of superantiferromagnetic domain structures with smaller domains observed in samples with thinner layers. The results are a first step toward the simple design of hierarchical nanostructured magnetic materials using cooperative, three-dimensional inorganic/organic self-organization.

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A crystallographic phase transition involving changes in the solvate molecule has been found for mixed-valence [Fe(3)O(O(2)CCH(3))(6)(3-Cl-py)(3)].3-Cl-py (1), where 3-Cl-py is 3-chloropyridine. Single-crystal X-ray structures were determined at 300, 228, 200, 169, and 122 K for complex 1. At 300, 228, and 200 K the crystal is monoclinic, space group P2(1)/c, whereas at 169 and 122 K it is triclinic, space group P&onemacr;. Determinations of the unit cell parameters at several temperatures shows that a reversible crystallographic phase transition between the monoclinic and triclinic forms occurs at approximately 200 K. Complex 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c at 300 K, having a unit cell with a = 21.212(8) Å, b = 8.434(2) Å, c = 23.676(3) Å, and Z = 4. Refinement with 5702 observed [F(o) > 4sigma(F(o))] reflections gave R = 0.0542 and R(w) = 0.0937. Complex 1 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P&onemacr; at 122 K, having a unit cell with a = 20.983(11) Å, b = 8.360(4) Å, c = 23.293(10) Å, and Z = 4. At 300 K there is one somewhat asymmetric Fe(3)O complex in the structure. The core dimensions in the Fe(3)O complex at 300 K indicate that the complex is becoming almost valence-detrapped. At 122 K there are two different Fe(3)O complexes in the unit cell, both of which are similar in dimensions. As the temperature is decreased from 300 to 122 K, each Fe(3)O complex becomes more and more distorted in an equilateral triangle. At 122 K one iron ion in each Fe(3)O complex clearly is a high-spin Fe(II) ion and the other two are high-spin Fe(III) ions. There are significant changes in the nature of the 3-Cl-py solvate molecules above and below the phase transition that are likely important in controlling the valence detrapping. At 122 K there are two different Fe(3)O complexes, each with their nearby 3-Cl-py solvate molecules in one position. There are three different phases: a monoclinic one with all solvate molecules disordered, a second triclinic phase at 169 K with half of the solvate molecules disordered, and a third triclinic phase at 122 K with all solvate molecules statically ordered. (57)Fe Mössbauer spectra taken in the 110-293 K range show that complex 1 converts from valence-trapped at 110 K to become detrapped by 293 K, where a single quadrupole-split doublet is seen. Throughout the 140-230 K range it was necessary to employ one Fe(III) doublet and two Fe(II) doublets to fit each Mössbauer spectrum. It is shown that the two Fe(II) doublets likely arise from Fe(3)O complexes experiencing the different disordered solvate environments described above. Thus, while the approximately 200 K structural phase transition involving the solvate molecules does not precipitously lead to an increase in the rate of electron transfer in Fe(3)O complexes in 1, it is clear that the changes seen in the solvate molecules from X-ray structures do play a major role in the valence detrapping in complex 1.

To improve the ability of regeneration by grafting living cells or by adding growth factor to a lesion site, it is important to find good biomaterials for neuron survival and regeneration. This study focused on two- and three-dimensional cultures in a matrix using biomaterials such as agarose, collagen, fibrin, and their mixtures, because these are considered to be suitable biomaterials for neuron outgrowth. Cortical neurons were dissected from E17 rat embryos and cultured in agarose gel, collagen gel, fibrin glue, and mixtures of collagen and fibrin. Results showed that neurons cultured in collagen gel and fibrin glue had longer periods of survival (more than 3 weeks) and better neurite extension than those observed in agarose gels. As to the survival rate according to the MTT and lactate dehydrogenase assays, fibrin glue was the most suitable biomaterial for neuron survival among the biomaterials examined. With two-dimensional fibrin plating, neuron cells exhibited cell aggregation and stress fibers, but the same results were not observed with collagen gel. There were no differences in neurite extension and survival in the mixtures of collagen and fibrin. The results suggest that collagen and fibrin can provide a suitable substrate for a three-dimensional culture matrix for neuronal survival and differentiation.

The accuracy of static guided implant surgery (sGIS) using conventional planning workflow has been extensively examined; however, more information is required to justify the application of fully digital planning protocol. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical accuracy of sGIS with a fully digital planning workflow. Twenty-one partially edentulous patients were enrolled in this prospective study. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and intraoral scans were taken and superimposed by matching the dental surface images directly (surface registration protocol) or by matching fiducial markers on a stereolithographic (SLA) radiographic template fabricated from the digital data of the intraoral scan (fiducial marker registration protocol). Virtual implant treatment plans were then determined, and tooth-supported SLA surgical guides were fabricated according to the plans. Twenty-six implant surgeries were performed via the surgical guide by one surgeon. Pre- and post-operative CBCT images were superimposed, and the positional and angular deviations between placed and planned implants were measured with metrology software. A total of 43 fully guided implants were placed, in which 25 implants were planned with the surface registration protocol. Implants planned based on the surface registration protocol had a larger mean angular deviation than the fiducial marker registration protocol. No significant differences were found for any deviations of the examined variables. Within the limits of this study, we concluded that the clinical accuracy of the sGIS planned with a fully digital workflow was consistent with the conventional workflow for partially edentulous patients.

Minilaparoscopic herniorrhaphy with hernia sac transaction is a safe and effective technique in children and young adults with indirect inguinal hernias.