Wearable systems in nursing home care: prototyping experience

Productivity in nursing care is a major concern in all residential facilities, as is improving the quality of care. Pervasive computing offers great promise in this area. In this paper we discuss requirements analysis, multiphase prototyping, and effective use of commercial off-the-shelf technologies to improve communication and situation awareness in nursing teams. We developed a wearable prototype with only a person-month of development time, using existing electronic meeting technologies for its multimodal communication platform.     

Linear stress-strain relations in nonlinear elasticity

Summary Nonlinear strain measures which are compatible with the existence of an elastic potential and lead to a linear stress-strain relation are obtained. An unusual property of these measures is their dependence on material parameters. Standard strain measures commonly used in nonlinear elasticity are shown to be consistent with linear stress-strain relations only for particular cases of Poisson's ratio. Corresponding potentials for these cases are presented.     

The relationship between the reliability of transistors with 2D AlGaN/GaN channel and organization type of nanomaterial

The first experimental results demonstrating that the carrier mobility in the AlGaN/GaN 2D channel of transistor structures (AlGaN/GaN-HEMT) is correlated with the manner in which the nanomaterial is organized and also with the operation reliability of transistor parameters are presented. It is shown that improving the nature of organization of the nanomaterials in AlGaN/GaN-HEMT structures, evaluated by the multifractal parameter characterizing the extent to which a nanomaterial is disordered (local symmetry breaking) is accompanied by a significant, several-fold increase in the electron mobility in the 2D channel and in the reliability of parameters of transistors fabricated from these structures.     

mStar: enabling collaborative applications on the Internet

Distributed, real-time multimedia applications on the Internet permit users to cooperate in new and more interesting ways for collaborative teamwork and net-based learning. The mStar environment features an agent-based architecture, implemented in Java, which preserves compatibility with the dominant Mbone paradigm for IP multicast. The shared software environment provides an integrated solution for generating, presenting, scoring, and editing media in collaborative applications. In particular, mStar supports developers in creating distributed, real-time multimedia software applications such as e-meetings. mStar enhances both distance education and collaborative teamwork by presenting a uniform user interface for real-time audio and video, shared whiteboard, char, voting, and distributed Web-based presentations. The system also supports on-demand recording and session playback     

Highly efficient <Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis>-range AlGaN/GaN power amplifier

The development of microwave power amplifiers (PAs) based on transistors with an AlGaN/GaN heterojunction are discussed in terms of the possible enhancement of their efficiency. The main focus is on the synthesis of the transforming circuits, which ensure the reactive load at the second- and third-harmonic frequencies and complex impedance at the fundamental frequency. This makes it possible to optimize the complex operation mode of a PA; i.e., to reduce the scattering power and enhance the efficiency. A microwave PA based on the Schottky-barrier-gate field-effect transistor with 80 electrodes based on the GaN pHEMT transistor with a gate length of 0.25 nm and a gate width of 125 nm is experimentally investigated. The amplifier has a pulse output power of 35 W and a power-added efficiency of at least 50% at a working frequency of 9 GHz.     

Normally off transistors based on in situ passivated AlN/GaN heterostructures

A molecular beam epitaxy technology of in situ passivated SiN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with an ultrathin AlN barrier has been developed. Based on these structures, normally off transistors with maximum current density of about 1 A/mm, saturation voltage of about 1 V, transconductance up to 350 mS/mm, and breakdown voltage above 60 V have been fabricated, in which the drain and gate current collapse phenomena are virtually absent.

     

Axi-symmetric loads on an elastic half-space containing an inclusion

The problem of a linearly elastic half-space containing a rigid-lubricated cylindrical inclusion and subjected to a normal static circular line load at the plane surface is treated. The stress and displacement components on the plane boundary yield simple expressions from which quantitative results are readily determined. The singularities existing under the applied load are examined.     

Pharmacokinetic profiles of ceftazidime in cochlear perilymph, cerebrospinal fluid and plasma: a high-performance liquid chromatographic study

A pharmacokinetic profile of the antibiotic ceftazidime was established for perilymph, cerbrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma in 12 guinea pigs using the technique of high-performance liquid chromatography. The mean peak levels of 13.35 mg/l in perilymph and 140.54 mg/l in plasma were reached within the first hour after a single intravenous dose of 100 mg/kg. The CSF mean peak level of 5.36 mg/l, however, was not attained until 3 h after injection. The half-life was about 4 h in perilymph, more than 6 h in CSF and less than 2 h in plasma. Six hours following administration, the perilymph drug concentration remained higher than the plasma level. The study indicates that ceftazidime has excellent penetration into perilymph. It is concluded that ceftazidime should be a very useful agent in the treatment of bacterial labyrinthitis caused by susceptible organisms.     

Effects of a creative studies program on structure-of-intellect factors.

Administered a 2-yr sequence of 4 semester-long courses in creative problem solving to college students in an experimental group and gave no training to control students. Each semester emphasized a different aspect of creativity, and effects were assessed at the end of each semester with tests designed to reflect J. P. Guilford's Structure-of-Intellect model. A pretest battery established the initial comparability of 145 experimental and 153 control Ss. 101 experimental and 57 control Ss completed the 4-semester course and/or testing. The training had no significant effect on memory or evaluation operations but significantly improved divergent production, convergent production, and cognition. The data support a multidimensional analysis of creativity, involving not only idea-finding (divergent production) but also knowing (cognition), judging, and implementing ideas (cognition and convergent and divergent production). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)