Stages of Design in Technology for Global Development

Information and communication technology projects designed to cost-effectively impact the world's poorest communities require more than technical solutions. A Microsoft research group shares its experiences and lessons learned implementing various ICT4D initiatives in India.     

Clinical evaluation of serum type IV collagen 7S in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Type IV collagen is one of the major components of the basement membrane (BM). 7S domain (7S collagen) of type IV collagen is an N-terminal peptide which is stable against protease and heat. We investigated serum concentration of 7S collagen in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other pulmonary diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether changes in the serum concentration of 7S collagen reflect the fibrotic process of IPF. We measured the concentration of serum 7S collagen with radioimmunoassay in patients with IPF, chronic pulmonary emphysema (CPE), sarcoidosis, infectious pulmonary diseases (IPD) and normal healthy controls. We also monitored 7S collagen during the clinical course in some patients with IPF and investigated the correlation between the serum 7S collagen, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and erthrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in patients with IPF. Patients with IPF showed significantly higher serum concentration of 7S collagen than other pulmonary diseases and healthy controls. The serum concentration of 7S collagen significantly decreased in IPF patients who showed roentgenographic improvement after corticosteroid treatment. There was a correlation between the serum 7S collagen and LDH, and ESR. In conclusion, serum concentrations of 7S collagen increase in patients with IPF. The measurement of 7S collagen is useful for the evaluation of fibrotic change in the lung.     

Oncocytic hepatocellular carcinoma with numerous globular hyaline bodies

The current approach to the management of physician resources in Canada needs to be re-examined by all concerned. Canada is about to enter a phase of accelerating depletion of physicians as the result of two separate and evolving circumstances. Because of the unusually large number of physicians who graduated from Canadian medical schools in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a significantly larger than usual number of practising physicians will reach their normal retirement age in the decade ahead. In addition, if the recent surge in the emigration of Canadian physicians continues, the loss of so many physicians will exaggerate the impact of the expected increase in retirements. Therefore, the decision to cut medical school class sizes in the 1990s would have been more suitable in the early 1980s. Existing physician work force policies may be leading to unexpected or undeclared consequences for health care across Canada. On the basis of current trends, the author concludes that policy makers now should reconsider current physician workforce policies in anticipation of a possible shortfall of physicians beginning in the early decades of the next century.     

Study on microstructural changes in thermally-aged stainless steel weld-overlay cladding of nuclear reactor pressure vessels by atom probe tomography

The effect of thermal aging on microstructural changes was investigated in stainless steel weld-overlay cladding composed of 90% austenite and 10% δ-ferrite phases using atom probe tomography (APT). In as-received materials subjected to cooling process after post-welding heat treatments (PWHT), a slight fluctuation of the Cr concentration was already observed due to spinodal decomposition in the ferrite phase but not in the austenitic phase. Thermal aging at 400 °C for 10,000 h caused not only an increase in the amplitude of spinodal decomposition but also the precipitation of G phases with composition ratios of Ni:Si:Mn = 16:7:6 in the ferrite phase. The chemical compositions of M₂₃C₆ type carbides seemed to be formed at the austenite/ferrite interface were analyzed. The analyses of the magnitude of the spinodal decomposition and the hardness implied that the spinodal decomposition was the main cause of the hardening.     

Laser cutting performances for thick steel specimens studied by molten metal removal conditions

Laser cutting performances for thick carbon steel and stainless steel specimens up to 300 mm in thickness were studied to dismantle large steel objects. The cutting performances were summarized based on the assist gas flow rate and the front kerf width, and the range for appropriate cutting conditions was shown. Gas pressure in the kerf region required for molten metal removal was estimated from the pressure loss on the kerf surface, which depended on the gas flow rate and the kerf width. The relation to keep sufficient gas pressure in the kerf well corresponded to the experimental relations for appropriate cutting. Drag force to the molten metal on the kerf surface was also estimated, which varied by the structures and materials. The behaviors such as cavity formation and its expansion in the kerf region at the unsuccessful cutting trials were well explained. The results are informative for the development of the laser cutting technology applied to the thick steel specimen for the nuclear decommissioning.     

Usefulness of (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan measurement for diagnosis of deep mycosis

The number of deep mycosis has been increasing because of increases in immunocompromised hosts and in fungal colonization associated with increasing use of broad-spectrum antibacterial antibiotics. Based on these phenomenon, a simple test method for an early diagnosis of deep mycosis is urgently desired. We therefore investigated the usefulness of assaying a fungal cell component, (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan (beta-glucan). The amount of beta-glucan was obtained from the difference between the amounts determined using Toxicolor and Endospecy, and the serum levels of more than 10 pg/ml were considered positive signs for beta-glucan. The following results were obtained: We found that beta-glucan was positive in 75% of the patients who had been definitely diagnosed to have mycosis, and in 58.3% of the patients strongly suspected of mycosis. The numbers of beta-glucan positive patients' in these 2 groups of patients were significantly different from that in those without mycosis (14.7%, P < 0.05). Thus a usefulness of beta-glucan measurement for the diagnosis of mycosis was demonstrated. However, beta-glucan was sometimes negative even in patients with fungemia at an early phase of the disease and turned positive several days later. Even in a patient with definite lung mycosis, who had a latent circumscribed lesion (afebrile and CRP-negative), beta-glucan was also negative. From these findings, one should be aware that the beta-glucan test produces false negatives even in patients with definite mycosis and that the test should be repeated during the course of the disease.     

Alpha-fetoprotein producing pulmonary blastoma in a patient with systemic sclerosis: pathogenetic analysis

We describe a rare case of pulmonary blastoma complicated with systemic sclerosis. The serum alpha-fetoprotein level was elevated at presentation and the biopsied tumour stained positively against anti-alpha-fetoprotein antibody. The alpha-fetoprotein produced autonomously by tumour cells was of yolk-sac origin. Although the pathogenesis of pulmonary blastoma has not been clarified, we suggest that this pulmonary blastoma is a type of yolk-sac tumour.     

Sterilization of hepatitis B surface antigen-contaminated materials

The sterilizing conditions of HBs Ag-contaminated materials were studied by means of the inactivation of the antigenicity (infectivity being thought to be lost when HBs Ag is inactivated). HBs Ag-coated beads and the serum from an HBs Ag-positive patient were used. After each sterilizing procedure, the antigenicity was studied by radioimmunoassay. HBs Ag-positive serum is easily inactivated by boiling and by steam under pressure; however, HBs Ag-coated beads require increased steam under pressure. For sterilizing HBs Ag-contaminated materials, 30 minutes at 132 degrees C is recommended.     

Flame-Sprayed Y<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Films with Metal-EDTA Complex Using Various Cooling Agents

In this study, yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃) films were synthesized from a metal-ethylenediaminetetraacetic (metal-EDTA) complex by employing a H₂-O₂ combustion flame. A rotation apparatus and various cooling agents (compressed air, liquid nitrogen, and atomized purified water) were used during the synthesis to control the thermal history during film deposition. An EDTA·Y·H complex was prepared and used as the staring material for the synthesis of Y₂O₃ films with a flame-spraying apparatus. Although thermally extreme environments were employed during the synthesis, all of the obtained Y₂O₃ films showed only a few cracks and minor peeling in their microstructures. For instance, the Y₂O₃ film synthesized using the rotation apparatus with water atomization units exhibited a porosity of 22.8%. The maximum film’s temperature after deposition was 453 °C owing to the high heat of evaporation of water. Cooling effects of substrate by various cooling units for solidification was dominated to heat of vaporization, not to unit’s temperatures.     

Determination methodology for optimising the energy storage size for power system

A methodology for determining the optimal size of energy storage system (ESS) integrated with thermal power system is presented in this study. The optimal size is characterised by the rated stored energy and the maximum power rating of installed ESS for which the power system can achieve maximum revenue. Therefore the ESS cost formulation is conducted by analysing economic cost benefit measures considering life cycle of ESS. Since unit commitment (UC) scheduling is an important and integral part of power system cost optimisation, this study considers the operating schedule of thermal units (TU) while resolving ESS schedule. This proposed method uses tabu search (TS)-based evolutionary technique for solving this optimisation problem. TS is included in this algorithm to avoid re-evaluation of already evaluated ESS size which is powered by max priority heap and hash table data structure. The weekly schedule period is considered instead of daily to achieve more precise results. The proposed method is applied in two different power systems to determine the appropriate size of to be installed ESS. Experimental results reported that establishing the proposed method is an effective one to compute the optimal size of ESS for different sized power systems.