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Because of its high spatial resolution, scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) has been developed quite actively and applied in such diverse areas as microelectronics, optoelectronics, polymers, and carbon nanotubes for more than a decade since the 1990s. However, despite its long history and diverse areas of application, surprisingly, no quantitative profiling method has been established yet. This is mostly due to the nonlocal nature of measurement by conventional SThM: the signal measured by SThM is induced not only from the local heat flux through the tip-sample thermal contact but also (and mostly) from the heat flux through the air gap between the sample and the SThM probe. In this study, a rigorous but simple and practical theory for quantitative SThM for local measurement is established and verified experimentally using high-performance SThM probes. The development of quantitative SThM will make possible new breakthroughs in diverse fields of nanothermal science and engineering.

[1] Permeability of illite-rich shale recovered from the Wilcox formation and saturated with 1 M NaCl solution varies from 3 Â 10 À22 to 3 Â 10 À19 m 2 , depending on flow direction relative to bedding, clay content (40-65%), and effective pressure P e (2-12 MPa). Permeability k is anisotropic at low P e ; measured k values for flow parallel to bedding at P e = 3 MPa exceed those for flow perpendicular to bedding by a factor of 10, both for low clay content (LC) and high clay content (HC) samples. With increasing P e , k becomes increasingly isotropic, showing little directional dependence at 10-12 MPa. Permeability depends on clay content; k measured for LC samples exceed those of HC samples by a factor of 5. Permeability decreases irreversibly with the application of P e , following a cubic law of the form k = k 0 [1 À (P e /P 1 ) m ] 3 , where k 0 varies over 3 orders of magnitude, depending on orientation and clay content, m is dependent only on orientation (equal to 0.166 for bedding-parallel flow and 0.52 for flow across bedding), and P 1 (18-27 MPa) appears to be similar for all orientations and clay contents. Anisotropy and reductions in permeability with P e are attributed to the presence of crack-like voids parallel to bedding and their closure upon loading, respectively.

ObjectivesFish bone impaction in the upper gastrointestinal tract is a common reason for patients to seek emergent care. The aim of this study was to find a clinical characteristics of patients with fish bone impaction in the upper gastrointestinal tract.MethodsThe study was conducted on 286 fish bone ingestion patients who complained of dysphagia and irritation after eating fish. The patients were treated according to the hospital protocol regarding the removal of fish bone. The parameters for the analysis included the age and sex of the patients, location and characteristics of the foreign body, method of removal, and type of fish.ResultsThe fish bone could be observed by the physical examination in the oral cavity and laryngopharynx in 198 patients (69.23%). For those patients in whom the foreign body could not be observed in oral cavity and laryngopharynx, noncontrast computed tomography (CT) (from nasopharynx to diaphragm) was performed. The fish bone was discovered in the esophagus of 66 patients (23.08%). The esophageal fish bone was successfully removed by transnasal flexible esophagoscopy (TNE) in 55 patients, the fish bone moved to the stomach in 10 patients and one fish bone was removed by rigid esophagoscopy due to esophageal abscess. The esophageal fish bone was mostly found in patients aged 50 years and older.ConclusionFish bone foreign body ingestion in the esophagus appeared to be more common in older patients. Incorporating noncontrast CT and TNE can facilitate decision-making and adequate treatment for patients with fish bone impactions.