Paper Title, Authors, Abstract (Issue 1, Volume 3, 2009)

Pages

A New Approach for Water Purification from Microbial Pollution
E. Moosavi, V. Martirosyan, S. Ayrapetyan

Abstract: The fact that low concentrations of CO2 have an activation effect on functional activity of microbes allows us to suggest that CO2 could elevate the toxic effect of H2O2 on cells. To check this hypothesis the dependency of the toxic effect of H2O2 on wild type of Escherichia coli K-12 on soluble concentration of CO2 in culture media was studied. The obtained data show that culture media enriched with CO2 leads to the increase of toxic effect of H2O2 on microbes at both cases when pH is constant and when it changes.
 

Can Functional Electrical Stimulation for Pressure Ulcer Prevention reduce efficiently the Incidence of Deep-Tissue Injury?
Dohyung Lim, Keyoung Jin Chun

Abstract: In the United States, 1.4 million people who rely on wheelchairs for mobility develop serious pressure ulcer (PU) at pressure areas such as ischium and sacrum due to prolonged sitting. Recently, functional electrical stimulation (FES) has been proposed as a means to prevent development of PU through the redistribution and the reduction of the internal stresses within the deep tissue of the buttock, which were achieved by the increase of the muscle thickness, particular in the gluteus maximus. However, rare information about how much reduction of the incidence of deep-tissue injury in the FES application for PU prevention are positively induced through the internal stress relief resulting from the alteration of the muscle thickness achieved by the FES is currently available. The objective of the current study was therefore to identify if the FES application may efficiently reduce the incidence of deep-tissue injury, by evaluating a degree of the internal stress relief through the alteration of the gluteus maximus muscle thickness using Finite Element (FE) analysis combined with MRI image analysis. Four FE models were created through 3D reconstruction model made from buttock-thigh MRI images, which were obtained in an actual sitting posture of a specific subject. The internal von Mises stresses within the gluteus maximus were computed and analyzed with alterations of the gluteus maximus muscle thickness considered in the current study. The results showed that the distributions of the high internal von Mises stresses within the gluteus maximus were gradually decreased with the increase of the gluteus maximus muscle thickness. However, the maximum von Mises stresses within the gluteus maximus were irregularly changed. The current study confirms that the internal von Mises stress relief effects of the FES application for PU prevention may have substantial benefits in terms of reduction of the incidence of the deep-tissue injury. It can be concluded that incorporating the FES system into a rehabilitation and treatment program for individuals who have sitting-related PU wounds may promote the healing progress while maintaining their mobility.