No abstract

We encountered some complications during the graft passage and fixation using a TransFix implant. Despite the large number of cases and publications related to the ligament surgery, few papers have reported intra-operative complications. We report our experience of such complications and prevention methods. From June 2005 to October 2007, anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions were performed in 128 patients using the TransFix devices. From the surgical records, the opinions of the assistant during the graft passage were divided into three subsets: tight, modest, and loose. The results were also analyzed according to the use of the routine procedure, vertical traction, and thigh portal. Complications during the graft passage and fixation were encountered in 13 patients. These complications occurred when the femoral tunnels were tight during the graft passage (P < 0.0001). The addition of vertical traction or a thigh portal decreased the number of complications significantly (P < 0.0001). The main cause of such complications was the lack of full proximal migration of the graft, which can cause tendon and wire breakage. This study introduces some methods to prevent such complications.

The effects of different nuruk contents and fermentation methods (AV, vinegar fermented in an agitated culture; SV, vinegar fermented in a static culture) on organic acids and volatile compounds in brown rice vinegars were investigated. In the SV, the contents of acetic, oxalic, tartaric, and malic acids increased with hipher contents of nuruk. Acetic, tartaric, and malic acid contents were higher in the SV than those in the AV. Volatile compounds that can affect vinegar quality, including acetic acid, isoamyl acetate, phenethyl acetate, and phenethyl alcohol were present at high concentrations in the AV. With the increase in nuruk contents in the AV, acetic acid content decreased and isoamyl acetate and phenethyl acetate content increased. No significant differences in sensory scores were observed regarding the amount of nuruk and the type of fermentation. However, electronic-nose analysis showed its potential to effectively differentiate different samples.

In this study, the two-phase pressure drop of a one-side heated swirl tube (twist ratio=3, 5) was experimentally studied. If the a heat flux is gradually increased, the vapor blocks the flow path, thus leading to an increase in the differential pressure. As the inset sub-cooling and mass flow rate increase, the vapor is removed by condensation more rapidly, and thus, the rate of increase of differential pressure is reduced. From the evaluation of the prediction performance of the existing two-phase pressure drop correlations, it was found that the mean error rates of all correlations exceeded 50%. This is because most of the existing correlations were not developed based on the microchannel, but they were not focused on the swirl tube. Therefore, the authors developed a new two-phase pressure drop multiplier correlation for a one-side heated swirl tube that reflects the effect of the twist tape by modifying the Manglick single-phase swirl tube pressure drop correlation using the AI regression method.

In this paper, an interleaved soft switching boost converter for a Photovoltaic Power Conditioning System (PV-PCS) with high efficiency is proposed. In order to raise the efficiency of the proposed converter, a 2-phase interleaved boost converter integrated with soft switching cells is used. All of the switching devices in the proposed converter achieve zero current switching (ZCS) or zero voltage switching (ZVS). Thus, the proposed circuit has a high efficiency characteristic due to low switching losses. To analyze the power losses of the proposed converter, two experimental sets have been built. One consists of normal devices (MOSFETs, Fast Recovery (FR) diodes) and the other consists of advanced power devices (CoolMOSs, SiC-Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs)). To verify the validity of the proposed topology, theoretical analysis and experimental results are presented.