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Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe the techniques and process of developing and testing a take-home surgical anastomosis simulation model.
Design: Through an iterative process, a simulation model was customized and designed to target specific skill development and performance objectives that focused on anastomotic techniques in thoracic surgery and consist of 3D printed and silicone molded components. Various manufacturing techniques such as silicone dip spin coating and injection molding have been described in this paper and explored as part of the research and development process. The final prototype is a low-cost, take-home model with reusable and replaceable components.
Setting: The study took place at a single-center quaternary care university-affiliated hospital.
Participants: The participants included in the model testing were 10 senior thoracic surgery trainees who completed an in-person training session held during an annual hands- on thoracic surgery simulation course. Feedback was then collected in the form of an evaluation of the model from participants.
Results: All 10 participants had an opportunity to test the model and complete at least 1 pulmonary artery and bronchial anastomosis. The overall experience was rated highly, with minor feedback provided regarding the set- up and fidelity of the materials used for the anastomoses. Overall, the trainees agreed that the model was suitable for teaching advanced anastomotic techniques and expressed an interest in being able to use this model to practice skill development.
Conclusions: Developed simulation model can be easily reduced, with customized components that accurately simulate real-life vascular and bronchial components suitable for training of anastomoses technique amongst senior thoracic surgery trainees.
(Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Design dynamics that evolve during a designer's prototyping process encapsulate important insights about the way the designer is using his or her knowledge, creativity, and reflective thinking. Nevertheless, the capturing of such dynamics is not always an easy task, as they are built through alternations between the self-first and self-third person views.
Objective: This study aimed at introducing a conceptual framework, namely 2D-ME, to provide an explainable domain that could express the dynamics across the design timeline during a prototyping process of serious games.
Methods: Within the 2D-ME framework, the Technological-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge (TPACK), its adaptation to the serious games (TPACK-Game), and the activity theory frameworks were combined to produce dynamic constructs that incorporate self-first and self-third person extension of the TPACK-Game to Games TPACK, rules, division of labor, and object. The dynamic interplay between such constructs was used as an adaptation engine within an optimization prototype process, so each sequential version of the latter could converge to the designer's initial idea of the serious game. Moreover, higher-order thinking is scaffolded with the internal Activity Interview Script proposed in this paper.
Results: An experimental case study of the application of the 2D-ME conceptual framework in the design of a light reflection game was showcased, revealing all the designer's dynamics, both from internal (via a diary) and external (via the prototype version) views. The findings of this case study exemplified the convergence of the prototyping process to an optimized output, by minimizing the mean square error between the conceptual (initial and updated) idea of the prototype, following explainable and tangible constructs within the 2D-ME framework.
Conclusions: The generic structure of the proposed 2D-ME framework allows its transferability to various levels of expertise in serious games mastering, and it is used both for the designer's process exploration and training of the novice ones.
(©Sofia Hadjileontiadou, Sofia B Dias, Leontios Hadjileontiadis. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (https://games.jmir.org), 24.04.2023.)

A flexible power electronic converter embedding a rapid control prototyping platform suitable to be applied in research test setups and teaching laboratories is proposed and described in this paper. The electronic system is composed of three subsystems, namely, i ) three half-bridge power boards, ii ) a dc-link capacitor bank with a half-bridge power module for active dc-link control, iii ) an interfacing board, called motherboard, to couple the power modules with a control unit, iv ) a digital control unit with rapid control prototyping functionalities for controlling power electronic circuits. Power modules integrate sensors with related conditioning circuits, driving circuits for power switches, and protection circuits. Conversion circuits exploit GaN electronic switches for optimal performance. The architecture and implementation of the system are described in detail in this manuscript. Main applications are in the implementation of conversion circuits for supplying arbitrary ac or dc voltages or currents, testing of new control algorithms for power electronic converters, testing of systems of electronic converters in, for example, smart nanogrids or renewable energy applications, training of undergraduate and graduate students.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2023 The Author(s).)

Female, Humans, Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared, Fluorouracil, Polyesters, and Uterine Cervical Neoplasms drug therapy

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are used extensively to achieve site-specific drug delivery with improved bioavailability and reduced toxicity. This work focused on a new approach to provide site-specific stimuli-responsive delivery of SLNs loaded within thermo-sonic nano-organogel (TNO) variants to deliver the model chemotherapeutic agent 5-FU in treating cervical cancer. Pharmaceutically stable nanospherical SLNs comprising poly-L-lactic acid (PLA), palmitic acid (PA), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were prepared and incorporated into TNO variants augmented by external thermal and ultrasound stimuli for release of 5-FU in the cervix. Results revealed that rate-modulated 5-FU release was achieved from SLNs (particle size =450.9 nm; PDI =0.541; zeta potential =-23.2 mV; %DL =33%) within an organogel upon exposure to either a single (thermo-) and/or both (thermo-sonic) stimuli. 5FU was released from all TNO variants with an initial burst on day 1 followed by sustained release over 14 days. TNO 1 provided desirable release over 15 days (44.29% vs. 67.13% under single (T) or combined (TU) stimuli, respectively). Release rates were primarily influenced by the SLN:TO ratio in tandem with biodegradation and hydrodynamic influx. Biodegradation by day 7 revealed that variant TNO 1 (1:5) released 5FU (46.8%) analogous to its initial mass than the other TNO variants (i.e., ratios of 2:5 and 3:5). FT-IR spectra revealed assimilation of the system components and corroborative with the DSC and XRD analysis (i.e., in ratios of PA:PLA 1:1 and 2:1). In conclusion, the TNO variants produced may be used as a potential stimuli-responsive platform for the site-specific delivery of chemotherapeutic agents such as 5-FU to treat cervical cancer.
(© 2023. The Author(s).)