Evaluating the Use of Daily Care Notes Software for Older People with Dementia

There has been little research to investigate the impact of software to support the care for older people with dementia care. This article reports the evaluation of software adapted to support one key person-centered task for the care of older residents with dementia – recording and sharing daily care notes. The evaluation on the dementia wing of 1 residential home for over 6 months revealed that use of the software on mobile devices carried by the carers increased the number and volume of daily care notes recorded, but only for the types of content that were already being recorded by carers. Carers reported more advantages that resulted from daily care notes once in digital form than from the documenting task, as well as barriers to the use of mobile digital software to record daily care notes.     

Use of Zebrafish Embryo Assay to Evaluate Toxicity and Safety of Bioreactor-Grown Exopolysaccharides and Endopolysaccharides from European Ganoderma applanatum Mycelium for Future Aquaculture Applications

Natural mycelial exopolysaccharide (EPS) and endopolysaccharide (ENS) extracted from bioreactor-cultivated European Ganoderma applanatum mushrooms are of potential high commercial value for both food and adjacent biopharmaceutical industries. In order to evaluate their potential toxicity for aquaculture application, both EPS (0.01–10 mg/mL) and ENS (0.01–10 mg/mL) extracts were tested for Zebrafish Embryo Toxicity (ZFET); early development effects on Zebrafish Embryos (ZE) were also analyzed between 24 and 120 h post-fertilization (HPF). Both EPS and ENS are considered non-toxic with LC₅₀ of 1.41 mg/mL and 0.87 mg/mL respectively. Both EPS and ENS did not delay hatching and teratogenic defect towards ZE with <1.0 mg/mL, respectively. No significant changes in the ZE heart rate were detected following treatment with the two compounds tested (EPS: 0.01–10 mg/mL: 176.44 ± 0.77 beats/min and ENS: 0.01–10 mg/mL: 148.44 ± 17.75 beats/min) compared to normal ZE (120–180 beats/min). These initial findings support future pre-clinical trials in adult fish models with view to safely using EPS and ENS as potential feed supplements for supplements for development of the aquaculture industry.     

Oxidative degradation of polyamide reverse osmosis membranes: Studies of molecular model compounds and selected membranes

Selected aromatic amides were used to model the chemical reactivity of aromatic polyamides found in thin‐film composite reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Chlorination and possible amide bond cleavage of aromatic amides upon exposure to aqueous chlorine, which can lead to membrane failure, were investigated. Correlations are made of the available chlorine concentration, pH, and exposure time with chemical changes in the model compounds. From the observed reactivity trends, insights are obtained into the mechanism of RO membrane performance loss upon chlorine exposure. Two chemical pathways for degradation are shown, one at constant pH and another that is pH‐history dependent. An alternative strategy is presented for the design of chlorine‐resistant RO membranes, and an initial performance study of RO membranes incorporating this strategy is reported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1173–1184, 2003     

Perceived stress management skill mediates the relationship between optimism and positive mood following radical prostatectomy.

This study evaluated relations among optimism, perceived stress management skills (PSMS), and positive mood in 46 men who had surgical treatment for localized prostate cancer. The authors found that optimism, PSMS, and positive mood scores were positively correlated. Positive mood was unrelated to demographic and disease-related control variables. In a hierarchical regression model controlling for PSMS, the relationship between optimism and positive mood became nonsignificant, whereas PSMS remained a correlate of positive mood. Results suggest that the relationship between optimism and positive mood may be mediated by belief in being able to use stress management techniques effectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Iron–cobalt catalysts synthesized by a reverse micelle impregnation method for controlled growth of carbon nanotubes

Fe–Co bimetallic metals supported on CaCO₃ support have been prepared using three different methods for the preparation of the catalysts; wet impregnation (IMP), deposition–precipitation (DP) and reverse micelle impregnation (RM). By careful choice and optimization of CVD reaction conditions and catalyst preparation procedures, we have tailored the nanofabrication of CNTs using 5 wt.% Fe–Co/CaCO₃. High yields of ‘clean’ MWNTs with near 100% selectivity and excellent reproducibility were obtained (1215% and 835% yields for the IMP and DP methods respectively). The RM technique enabled more precise control over the size of the CNTs and a narrower diameter distribution (3–5 nm i.d. and 10–15 nm o.d.) was obtained.     

Structural Response of Nuclear Containment Shield Buildings with Construction Openings

Steam generator replacement at nuclear power plants requires large construction openings in nuclear containment structures. This study examines the effects of such openings placed in a 61?cm (2?ft) thick dome of a shield building. The dome is cast in two layers, and the limiting cases of the two layers acting as one and the lower layer carrying the entire load are considered. Without openings, the stresses due to dead load in the structure are very low when compared to the material strength. With openings, the loads are easily redistributed around the opening, and the maximum stresses for the conservative case are between three and four and one-half times larger than in the original structure with no openings. The extent of the affected area around the holes is relatively small. Smooth corners in the openings are necessary to avoid high local stress concentrations.     

Selecting a waste management option using a life-cycle analysis approach

Solid-waste management, and in particular the disposal of used packaging, is currently the subject of much topical debate. This is driven by both consumer and legislative pressures. Consumers see used packaging as a highly visible element of municipal solid waste, complaining of excessive packaging and low levels of recycling. Legislators, perhaps in pandering to the views expressed by consumer bodies, have been active within the CEC and individual Member States by introducing (or proposing) legislation or similar regulatory tools and targets to facilitate a greater diversion of used packaging from disposal by landfill to alternative solid-waste management practices, in particular recycling, which are widely accepted to have a lower impact on the environment. In this paper the relative environmental profiles of pursuing alternative solid-waste management practices to disposal by landfill are explored, focusing not just on solid waste per se but also on associated considerations of energy consumption and emissions, which are invariably overlooked as factors contributing to the environmental impact of solid-waste management practices.     

High throughput VLSI DSP using replicated finite rings

This paper discusses strategies for implementing DSP systems using residue replication. The theory, recently introduced by two of the authors, uses formal polynomial ring mappings, from binary representations, to direct product ring implementation of integer processing arrays. The mapping produces completely independent computational arrays each computing over the same ring. This paper describes an architecture and processing array to implement, and take advantage of, the special computational ring structures that result from the mapping. A brief review of the theory and mapping techniques, is followed by the discussion of the architecture and VLSI design of an efficient inner product processing array using Fermat Primes.