Towards consistent modes of e‐health implementation: structurational analysis of a telecare programme's limited success

Telecare is the use of information and communication systems to facilitate care delivery to individuals in their homes. Although the expectations of telecare are high, its implementation has proved complex. This case study demonstrates this complexity through a structurational analysis of a telecare implementation process. The paper shows how structuration concepts enable a combined analysis of actors' interactions with a technology and of the interaction among these actors from different institutional contexts. In this example, fragmented multi‐actor agency induced an inconsistent implementation mode, leading to unsuccessful telecare appropriation. This paper concludes with a preliminary proposal for more consistent telecare implementation modes. These modes may better support the actors' reflexive monitoring and dialogue and inform further research.     

Nicotine dependence subtypes among adolescent smokers: Examining the occurrence, development and validity of distinct symptom profiles.

To increase understanding of the etiology and epidemiology of nicotine dependence among adolescent smokers, the present study examined the occurrence and development of distinct nicotine dependence symptom profiles in a sample of adolescent smokers. A total of 25 secondary schools throughout the Netherlands participated in a 1-year longitudinal study. Multiple dimensions of nicotine dependence were assessed, at two time points, among 641 adolescents (aged 14–17 years) who were classified as smokers. Results showed 4 distinct, yet stable, nicotine dependence subtypes that could be characterized by quantitative as well as qualitative differences. The symptom profiles were similar for males and females but differentially associated with previously identified correlates of nicotine dependence, namely parental smoking, peer smoking, and depressive mood. Finally, differential links of the 4 subtypes were found with regard to smoking uptake and cessation. The finding of qualitative different subgroups of adolescent smokers may have important implications for intervention efforts regarding nicotine dependence and smoking cessation. Such efforts may need to be tailored to the specific subgroups’ needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of acute progesterone administration upon responses to acute psychosocial stress in men.

Animal studies suggest that neuroactive steroids, in particular progesterone and its metabolites, have stress-dampening effects. However, few studies have explored these effects in humans. In this study, we investigated the effects of acute progesterone administration on responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Healthy men participated in the TSST 3.5 hrs after intramuscular injection of 0, 50, or 100 mg progesterone (N = 16, 14, and 14). We measured cardiovascular (heart rate, blood pressure), hormonal (plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone, cortisol, and noradrenaline), and subjective (e.g., anxiety, arousal) responses to stress in the three groups. Before the TSST, progesterone injections increased plasma levels without altering physiological or subjective states. Stress produced its expected physiological and subjective effects among placebo-treated individuals. Progesterone 50 mg attenuated peak increases in plasma cortisol and reduced changes in negative mood and alertness after stress, yet it increased plasma noradrenaline and systolic blood pressure. Progesterone 100 mg also attenuated stress-induced increases in alertness and arousal, yet it potentiated stress-induced increases in diastolic pressure. Thus, progesterone dampened some of the psychological effects of stress but produced inconsistent effects on physiological stress responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

中国城市污水处理的瓶颈、缘由及可能的解决方案

自20世纪90年代以来,中国在城市污水收集与处理方面取得了很大的进步.但是,源自于独特污水水质特征,中国城市污水处理效率的改善仍然面临瓶颈.该文着重比较了中国和其他国家的城市污水处理在能量回收、氮磷营养物去除和污泥产率方面的差异,并在资料支撑的理论分析基础上,揭示了因为下水道渗漏、化粪池设置等因素导致的中国城市污水独特的水质特征(高无机悬浮固体(inorganic suspended solids, ISS)质量浓度、低碳氧需求(COD)和低碳氮比)与城市污水处理厂较低的运营效率和性能之间的关系,提出了中国需要制定适合自己独特污水水质特性的处理过程设计指南.鉴于下水道系统建设与修复耗时长久,改善现有城市污水处理厂的效率和可持续性应该与下水道修复和制定设计指南同时推进,提出了三点建议:提高除砂效率、应用污泥发酵和厌氧消化、优化现有工艺并开发低碳源生物脱氮新工艺.     

Partitioned simulation of the interaction between an elastic structure and free surface flow

Currently, the interaction between free surface flow and an elastic structure is simulated with monolithic codes which calculate the deformation of the structure and the liquid–gas flow simultaneously. In this work, this interaction is calculated in a partitioned way with a separate flow solver and a separate structural solver using the interface quasi-Newton algorithm with approximation for the inverse of the Jacobian from a least-squares model (IQN-ILS). The interaction between an elastic beam and a sloshing liquid in a rolling tank is calculated and the results agree well with experimental data. Subsequently, the impact of both a rigid cylinder and a flexible composite cylinder on a water surface is simulated to assess the effect of slamming on the components of certain wave-energy converters. The impact pressure on the bottom of the rigid cylinder is nearly twice as high as on the flexible cylinder, which emphasizes the need for fluid–structure interaction calculations in the design process of these wave-energy converters. For both the rolling tank simulations and the impact simulations, grid refinement is performed and the IQN-ILS algorithm requires the same number of iterations on each grid. The simulations on the coarse grid are also executed using Gauss-Seidel coupling iterations with Aitken relaxation which requires significantly more coupling iterations per time step.     

Illustrative White Matter Fiber Bundles

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) has made feasible the visualization of the fibrous structure of the brain white matter. In the last decades, several fiber‐tracking methods have been developed to reconstruct the fiber tracts from DTI data. Usually these fiber tracts are shown individually based on some selection criteria like region of interest. However, if the white matter as a whole is being visualized clutter is generated by directly rendering the individual fiber tracts. Often users are actually interested in fiber bundles, anatomically meaningful entities that abstract from the fibers they contain. Several clustering techniques have been developed that try to group the fiber tracts in fiber bundles. However, even if clustering succeeds, the complex nature of white matter still makes it difficult to investigate. In this paper, we propose the use of illustration techniques to ease the exploration of white matter clusters. We create a technique to visualize an individual cluster as a whole. The amount of fibers visualized for the cluster is reduced to just a few hint lines, and silhouette and contours are used to improve the definition of the cluster borders. Multiple clusters can be easily visualized by a combination of the single cluster visualizations. Focus+context concepts are used to extend the multiple‐cluster renderings. Exploded views ease the exploration of the focus cluster while keeping the context clusters in an abstract form. Real‐time results are achieved by the GPU implementation of the presented techniques.     

Natural Mineral-marine Manganese Nodule as a Novel Catalyst for the Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes

1 IntroductionCarbon nanotubes (CNTs) are globally in the lime-light as a newfancy material of the 21st century andtheyare broadening their applications to almost all scientificareas . Several methods , such as arc-discharge va-porization[1],laser vaporization[2],chemical vapor depo-sition (CVD)[3-4]and others[5], have been developed tofabricate CNTs (including single and multi wall) up tonow.It is very well possible that the CVD method,be-cause of its simplicity andlowcost ,will provide …     

Optical sensing of biomolecules using microring resonators

A biosensor application of vertically coupled glass microring resonators with Q/spl sim/12 000 is introduced. Using balanced photodetection, very high signal to noise ratios, and thus high sensitivity to refractive index changes (limit of detection of 1.8/spl times/10/sup -5/ refractive index units), are achieved. Ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate successful modification of biosensor surfaces. Experimental data obtained separately for a bulk change of refractive index of the medium and for avidin-biotin binding on the ring surface are reported. Excellent repeatability and close-to-complete surface regeneration after binding are experimentally demonstrated.     

Risk-based resource optimization for transmission system maintenance

This paper describes a resource optimization approach for transmission system maintenance selection and scheduling that is based on the cumulative long-term risk caused by failure of each piece of equipment. This approach accounts for equipment failure probability, equipment damage, as well as outage consequence in terms of dispatch cost. A method of computing the change of equipment failure probabilities and expected time to failure when equipment condition data are available is described. The method is illustrated on a 566-bus model of a U.S. utility system.     

An improved Wigner Monte-Carlo technique for the self-consistent simulation of RTDs

We present an original approach to including quantum transport into classical Ensemble Monte Carlo (EMC) simulations. The method, based on the Wigner transport equation, is fully self-consistent, and includes impurity and phonon scattering according to the Fermi Golden rule. It is inspired by an approach suggested by Shifren et al. [IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 50, 769 (2003)], with some major improvements that make possible successful comparison with other simulation techniques and experiments.