Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

About: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a other organization based out in Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Laser & Microstructure. The organization has 5817 authors who have published 9157 publications receiving 292559 citations. The organization is also known as: Wright-Patterson AFB & FFO.

Paper pump for passive and programmable transport

Abstract: In microfluidic systems, a pump for fluid-driving is often necessary. To keep the size of microfluidic systems small, a pump that is small in size, light-weight and needs no external power source is advantageous. In this work, we present a passive, simple, ultra-low-cost, and easily controlled pumping method based on capillary action of paper that pumps fluid through conventional polymer-based microfluidic channels with steady flow rate. By using inexpensive cutting tools, paper can be shaped and placed at the outlet port of a conventional microfluidic channel, providing a wide range of pumping rates. A theoretical model was developed to describe the pumping mechanism and aid in the design of paper pumps. As we show, paper pumps can provide steady flow rates from 0.3 μl/s to 1.7 μl/s and can be cascaded to achieve programmable flow-rate tuning during the pumping process. We also successfully demonstrate transport of the most common biofluids (urine, serum, and blood). With these capabilities, the paper pump has the potential to become a powerful fluid-driving approach that will benefit the fielding of microfluidic systems for point-of-care applications.

Treatment of diencephalic syndrome with chemotherapy: growth, tumor response, and long term control.

Abstract: BACKGROUND The diencephalic syndrome (DS), which is manifested by progressive emaciation and failure to thrive in an apparently alert, cheerful infant, usually is due to a low grade hypothalamic glioma. Treatment with aggressive surgery and/or radiotherapy is variably successful in controlling disease and may result in severe neurologic sequelae. Chemotherapy recently has been shown to be effective in patients with low grade gliomas of childhood, but it is used infrequently in those with DS. METHODS The authors evaluated the efficacy of a regimen of carboplatin and vincristine on improving weight, causing tumor shrinkage, and delaying the need for alternative therapies in seven children (ages 9-20 months; median age, 11 months) with DS. Five patients weighed less than the 5th percentile for their age at the start of the study, one weighed within the 10th percentile, and one weighed within the 25th percentile. RESULTS At follow-up (range, 6-54 months; median, 28 months), the patients' weights had increased by 66-95% (median, 80%). On magnetic resonance imaging, four patients had a >50% reduction in tumor mass, one had a 25-50% reduction, and two had stable disease. In those patients with radiographic response to treatment, weight gain was accomplished with oral feedings in four of five patients, whereas those with stable disease required nasogastric, nasojejunal, or gastrostomy tube supplementation to maintain weight. Disease progression occurred at a median of 24 months after initiation of chemotherapy, and two patients remained free of progressive disease at last follow-up. Five patients were alive a median of 59 months from diagnosis. The need for radiation or other therapies was delayed in six of seven children. Therapy was tolerated without significant toxicities. CONCLUSION The authors conclude that treatment of DS with a carboplatin and vincristine regimen results in demonstrable weight gain, may result in tumor shrinkage, and in some cases, significantly delays the need for alternative therapies. Cancer 1998;83:166-172. © 1998 American Cancer Society.

Refractive-index measurements and Sellmeier coefficients for zinc germanium phosphide from 2 to 9 µm with implications for phase matching in optical frequency-conversion devices

Abstract: Recent experiments in mid-IR frequency conversion reveal that older Sellmeier models for zinc germanium phosphide are inadequate for predicting phase-matching loci in zinc germanium phosphide optical frequency-conversion devices. This results in compromised device performance. We conduct a complete study of the refractive indices of zinc germanium phosphide from 2 to 9 µm and calculate new Sellmeier coefficients. The phase-matching calculations based on our new refractive-index data predict much more closely the results of several different mid-IR frequency-conversion experiments.

Removal of ocular artifacts from the EEG: a comparison between time-domain regression method and adaptive filtering method using simulated data

Abstract: We recently proposed an adaptive filtering (AF) method for removing ocular artifacts from EEG recordings. The method employs two parameters: the forgetting factor λ and the filter length M. In this paper, we first show that when λ = M = 1, the adaptive filtering method becomes equivalent to the widely used time-domain regression method. The role of λ (when less than one) is to deal with the possible non-stationary relationship between the reference EOG and the EOG component in the EEG. To demonstrate the role of M, a simulation study is carried out that quantitatively evaluates the accuracy of the adaptive filtering method under different conditions and comparing with the accuracy of the regression method. The results show that when there is a shape difference or a misalignment between the reference EOG and the EOG artifact in the EEG, the adaptive filtering method can be more accurate in recovering the true EEG by using an M larger than one (e.g. M = 2 or 3).