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A study of the comparative properties of disposable and reusable hospital operating room garments
No full textConsumers’ attitude toward hygiene and active lifestyle stimulate the research about thevarious infectious and viruses like SARS, HIV, and Hepatitis etc. Healthcare professionalsand associations are making it mandatory to use protective surgical gowns and drapes as thebarriers to microbial transfer and the blood-borne pathogenic substances through body fluids.These diseases, which may be caused by a variety of microorganism, can pose significantrisks to human life and health.To address the issue, it was intended to procure commercially available disposable andreusable operating garments and study their structure, finishing processes and performanceaspects for their use as Operating Room Garments (OR). The R & B Micrometer was usedfor measuring the thickness of the fabric samples. The tensile strength and abrasion tests werecarried out using the Instron Testing Machine 4303 and Nu-Martindale 864 abrasion andpilling tester, respectively. Furthermore, Martindale abraded samples were analysed asgenerated images by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The thermophysiologicalproperties were measured by Alambeta Thermal Parameter Evaluator, and water vapourpermeability and resistance to evaporation heat loss of the fabrics sample were measured byPermaTest equipment. The Absorption Capacity and Wicking were also measured. TheShirley Hydro-head pressure was used to measure the resistance of gown and drape tosplashing or spraying fluids penetration.Commercial samples of OR garments were procured and tested using the various techniquesand procedures mentioned above. The manufacturers of the OR materials claim that theseproducts can deliver high levels of protection against viruses and reduce the risk of HospitalAcquired Infections (HAI). However, the results of our study show that the disposable ORgarments obtained from Ahlstrom were not user-friendly from some aspects of medicalprofessionals and patients. Furthermore the characteristics of the durable OR garments werequite similar to the conventional garments, as they did not contain any special functionalfinishes to enhance their performance. These garments cannot be considered as user-friendlyfor the operating room applications
Moral education, mindfulness and secularisation
No full textIn seeking answers to the question of how to revitalise the teaching of humanities in our 'culturally shell-shocked society' Chris Ormell (2010) discusses a number of interesting issues surrounding the secularisation of contemporary culture which has accompanied the onset of modernity. In the process of seeking ways of fostering a healing process to counteract the 'commercial brainwash' (ibid.,p.31) and thus establish a universal moral foundation on which to base humanities, a range of relevant topics - including the information revolution, multiculturalism and faith schools - are explored. I would like to use the concerns raised in Ormell's analysis to examine in more depth some general issues surrounding moral education in a secular and materialistic age. In particular, I want to argue that - although secularisation can be seen to be a positive development in terms of establishing the appropriate moral and intellectual climate for deep and rich learning - it has left too much of a moral vacuum which has been filled negatively either by forms of hedonistic materialism or religious fundamentalism. As an antidote to this malaise, I will draw on some of the work of the leading secularists - the so-called 'new atheists' such as Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett and, in particular, Harris - to argue for a secular form of spirituality which may serve to fill the moral vacuum in more rationally defensible and other-regarding ways. In the process, I will stress the utility of mindfulness practice as a means of both fostering and maintaining an educationally justifiable climate based on social values supported by universal moral principles
PMSM sensorless rotor position detection for all speeds by Direct Flux Control
No full textA Direct Flux Control (DFC) method is implemented in this paper in order to acquire the rotor position of a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM), which can be obtained for all speeds and also at standstill. Flux linkage signals are utilized to calculate the rotor position based on trigonometric approximations. Electrical rotor positions are results of this method, which are validated by both software and hardware executions. The measured flux linkage signals are taken into account to analyze their behaviors, especially in frequency domain, which provide a new approximation function of the flux linkage signals. The estimated flux linkage signal function is analyzed and shows that a magnetization curve (BH curve) is one of the most important factors to reach the actual performances of the PMSM. Thus, the exact nonlinear BH curve is necessary to be considered, which has been achieved in the mutual software simulation with Simplorer and Maxwell. A TriCore PXROS platform is connected to the real PMSM to employ the DFC method as the hardware implementation on a real time system
Piezoelectric Zinc Oxide and Aluminum Nitride Films for Microfluidic and Biosensing Applications
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A combined linguistic and medical approach to improve written and verbal communication skills for International Medical Graduates (IMGs)
No full textSurface modification of fabrics for improved flash-fire resistance using atmospheric pressure plasma in the presence of a functionalized clay and polysiloxane
No full textImproving flash fire resistance of otherwise flame resistant fabrics is a recognised challenge within the civil emergency and defence communities. Simulation of the flash fire condition using cone calorimetry has demonstrated the effectiveness of atmospheric plasma treatments in which either a functionalised nanoclay, a polysiloxane (poly(hexamethyldisiloxane)) or both are deposited on to plasma-activated fibre surfaces. Textile substrates comprised flame retardant (Proban®) cotton and a poly (meta-aramid) (Nomex®). Results show that the generated surface layer has a measurable effect on fabric ignition and burning characteristics when exposed in a cone calorimeter at heat flux levels up to 70 kW/m2. Reductions in peak heat release (PHRR) values are observed for all substrates especially for argon/clay and argon/clay/polysiloxane, plasma-treated samples, with reductions of over 50% being observed for Proban® cotton and smaller reductions (≤ 20%) for Nomex® fabrics. Both scanning electron microscopic and cone calorimetric studies show that these properties are retained after a simulated washing process including the argon/clay plasma-treated Proban® and Nomex® fabrics in which no potentially binding polysiloxane was present. This suggests that plasma-activated fibre surfaces in the presence of a functionalised clay enables relatively strong binding forces to be generated.The results provide further evidence in addition to our earlier reported studies, that atmospheric plasma treatment of fabric surfaces in the presence of a nanoclay produces an inorganic coating that confers reduced flammability at the high heat fluxes used suggesting increased resistance to flash fire ignition
Integration of distributed energy resources in the grid by applying international standards to the inverter as a multifunctional grid interface
No full textDistributed Energy Resources (DERs) are rapidly penetrating in power systems including their accompanying software and hardware (SW/HW) systems that are also distributed and related to different manufacturers and owners. Information integration and interoperability are two problems in distributed systems. This paper presents a comparison between the available integration middleware and standards for inter-application interoperability of distributed SW/HW systems accompanying DERs such as Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Web Services, multiagent systems (MASs), and recently IEC 61850. In addition, the paper shows the possibility of mapping the information objects of IEC 61850 to the data objects of legacy SCADA protocols for physical control and integration of DERs interfaces, namely inverters, into the future Smart Grid over IP-based networks, to achieve inter-device and device-to-application interoperability. Moreover, billing functionality can be added to the inverter to count for injected power into the Smart Grid, and hence the inverter has business-related functions
Vertically aligned smooth ZnO nanorod films for planar device applications
No full textThe growth of smooth and continuous zinc oxide (ZnO) films, consisting of densely packed vertical ZnO nanorods with (002) crystal orientation on silicon substrates has been achieved in this work by a chemical solution method. These ZnO thin films have much stronger photoluminescence emission than those from discrete ZnO nanorods under identical conditions. Large area surface acoustic wave devices were fabricated on these films using conventional photolithography, and exhibited two well-defined resonant modes of the Sezawa wave and its harmonic mode
Managing performance concerns in pharmacists: results from surveys of primary care and hospital trusts in England
No full textAim:To explore how NHS primary care trusts (PCTs) and hospital trusts in England deal with performance concerns about pharmacists.Design:Postal questionnaire developed based on literature and qualitative interviews.Subjects and settings:Clinical governance leads (and medicines management leads and chief pharmacists) in 152 PCTs and 85 acute NHS trusts in England.Results:The survey was completed by 69 representatives from PCTs and 32 from hospital trusts, giving an overall response rate of 43%. The means by which PCTs and hospital trusts became aware of performance concerns varied, with PCTs more likely to receive individual patient complaints and hospital trusts more likely to find out about performance concerns through peer reporting or appraisal and review systems. In terms of managing performance concerns, PCT and hospital trust respondents were most likely to regard alcohol/substance use and issues relating to dispensing as concerns that needed to be addressed through referral to external organisations or the regulator.Behavioural concerns and issues around communication tended to be regarded by both sets of respondents as able to be dealt with locally.Conclusions:This is the first study to explore how PCTs and hospital trusts in England manage performance concerns among pharmacists. Although the response rates were lower than expected, the findings have value, giving an indication of how different types of performance concern are viewed and managed by both hospital pharmacy employers and community pharmacy commissioners. Further research is recommended to understand fully the mechanisms for managing performance concerns among pharmacists working in different healthcare settings