Development of a web-based insulin decision aid for the elderly: usability barriers and guidelines

Universal Access in the Information Society - In recent years, researchers have attempted to shift patient decision aids (PDAs) from paper-based to web-based to increase its accessibility. Insulin...     

Leveraging online communities in fostering adaptive schools

There has long been a call for schools to prepare students for the twenty-first century where skills and dispositions differ significantly from much of what has historically characterized formal education. The knowledge based economy calls for policy and pedagogical efforts that would transform schools. Schools are to foster communities of learners. This paper suggests that para-communities may be points of leverage in the fostering of adaptive schools. A critical analysis is done on the differences between para-communities (such as online communities) and schools; and an argument is made that they each serve differing goals and should be left distinct because they achieve different societal and economic demands.     

Surface graft copolymerization enhanced adhesion of an epoxy-basedprinted circuit board substrate (FR-4) to copper

The lamination of surface modified printed circuit board (PCB) substrate, FR-4(R), from argon plasma pretreatment and UV-induced graft copolymerization with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), to copper foil was carried out at elevated temperature and in the presence of an epoxy adhesive. The structure and chemical composition of the graft copolymerized surfaces and interfaces of the glass fiber-reinforced and epoxy-based FR-4 substrates were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of the plasma pretreatment time, the UV illumination time, as well as the curing temperature, on the adhesion strength between the FR-4 substrate and copper were investigated. The assemblies involving GMA graft copolymerized FR-4, or the FR-4-GMA/epoxy resin/Cu assemblies, exhibited a significantly higher interfacial adhesion strength and reliability, in comparison to those assemblies in which only epoxy adhesive alone was used. The enhanced adhesion in the assemblies involving GMA graft copolymerized substrate arises from the fact that the covalently tethered GMA graft chains on the FR-4 surface can become covalently incorporated into the epoxy resin, resulting in the toughening of the epoxy matrix and increased interaction with copper     

Renewable decentralized in developing countries: Appraisal from microgrids project in Senegal

Sahelian developing countries depend heavily on oil-import for the supply of their increasing energy demand. This setup leads to an imbalance in the balance of payment, an increase of debt and budget asphyxia, whereas renewable resources are widely and abundantly available. The objective of this paper is to carry out a feasibility analysis of off-grid stand-alone renewable technology generation system for some remote rural areas in one Sahelian country. A survey conducted in 2006, within the framework of microgrids project, in rural areas located in three different regions in Senegal (Thies, Kaolack and Fatick) permits determination of demand estimations. Two reference technologies are chosen, namely a solar photovoltaic (PV) system of 130 Wc for solar endowment and a wind turbine of 150 W for wind speed. Taking into account the life-cycle-cost and the environmental externalities costs, our results show that the levelized electricity costs of PV technology are lower than the cost of energy from the grid extension for all these three regions. Thus, decentralized PV technologies are cost-competitive in comparison to a grid extension for these remote rural areas. For wind technology viabilities results are attained with a requirement demand lower than 7. 47 KWh/year for Thies and 7.884 KWh/year for the two remaining areas, namely Kaolack and Fatick. The additional advantage of the proposed methodology is that it allows the environmental valuation of energy generated from non-renewable resource.     

Capillary electrochromatography of cholesterol and its ester derivatives

Separation of cholesterol and its ester derivatives using micellar electrokinetic chromatography is a challenge due to the extreme hydrophobicity of these compounds. In this work, an isocratic capillary electrochromatography (CEC) method has been developed to separate a complex mixture of cholesterol and its 12-ester derivatives. The proportions of mobile phase (tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, water), as well as the effects of acid modifiers, buffer concentrations, voltage, and temperature on the separation of cholesterol derivatives were investigated. Addition of a polymeric surfactant, poly(sodium N-undecanoyl-L-glycinate), to the mobile phase reduced migration time and improved resolution of the analytes. The CEC method developed allows baseline separation of a complex mixture of cholesterol and 12 ester derivatives in less than 40 min. Finally, the method is applied to the characterization of cholesterol, cholesterol linoleate, and cholesterol oleate extracted from atherosclerotic plaque deposits in the arterial walls of a human aorta.     

Siting guidelines for concentrating solar power plants in the Sahel: Case study of Burkina Faso

Selecting a site that meets the technical requirements for a concentrating solar power plant (CSP) is a very critical exercise. This paper points out crucial factors and provides guidelines regarding the selection of suitable sites. It especially focuses on Sahelian countries which have their own climatic peculiarities. These countries, characterized by low access to electricity, are well endowed in solar resources. They are potentially good locations for concentrating solar power plants since their mean daily solar radiation exceeds 5.5 kWh/m². CSP presents therefore, a good opportunity for them to increase in a sustainable manner, their energy supply. The guidelines developed in this paper are applied to Burkina Faso as a case study.     

In vivo Doppler shift measurements using multimode fiber-opticcatheters

A new fiber-optic catheter for in vivo blood-flow measurements has been developed. The catheter is designed to measure blood flow in both the forward (toward the catheter tip) and reverse (away from the catheter tip) flow directions. It consists of two multimode optical fibers with core diameter of 50 μm and cladding diameter of 125 μm. One fiber transmits the laser beam into blood and the other receives the backscattered light from the erythrocytes within the probe volume. In the flow experiment, it was found that the flow within the boundary layer is indeed laminar and, hence, the relationship between the Doppler shift frequencies and the flow velocities is linear, thereby making the linear calibration possible for predicting the free stream flow velocity. Plots of the maximum shift frequency (frequency at which the Doppler spectrum disappeared into the noise spectrum) against the flow velocities are found to be more linear in both the forward and reverse flow directions than that of the dominant shift frequency (frequency with the highest amplitude). These results were reaffirmed by the numerical flow simulation along the catheter side wall     

Hydrogen reduction kinetics of nickel sulfide in the presence of calcium oxide

Recovery of pure nickel from nickel sulfide (Ni₃S₂) was studied by following to completion the hydrogen reduction reaction in the presence of calcium oxide. The effects of reaction temperature, molar ratio of calcium oxide to nickel sulfide, bed depth, and particle size of the nickel sulfide powder on the reaction were experimentally investigated. A simple empirical integrated rate equation describing the relationship among these variables over the temperature range 773 to 973 K was derived. The activation energy for the scavenged reaction was found to be 101.9 kJ from the experimental data. Over the range of experimental conditions, both globular and fibrous forms of metallic nickel were observed.     

Rapid determination of volatile bases in fish by using an ammonia ion-selective electrode

A simple and rapid method using an ammonia ion-selective electrode (ISE) to measure volatile bases in fish is proposed. Accuracy and precision were determined with 5, 10, 20, and 30 ppm NH3 standard solutions. Ammonia values obtained with the method correlate strongly with total volatile basic nitrogen (r2 = 0.88). Recoveries of added ammonia to homogenized fish samples ranged from 83.7 to 96.0%. Responses of the probe to trimethylamine (TMA), calculated as NH3 (mg/100 mL), ranged from 74.9 to 91.7%. These findings indicate that the probe measured TMA as well as ammonia. Storage trials on 8 fish species illustrated that the results obtained with the ISE method reflected nitrogen concentrations based on total volatile base (TVB) analysis. This procedure may be used in lieu of the traditional TVB method for on-site rapid screening of fish.     

Antioxidant activity and profiles of common fruits in Singapore

Thirty-eight types of fruits commonly consumed in Singapore were systematically analysed for their hydrophilic oxygen radical absorbance capacity (H-ORAC), total phenolic content (TPC), ascorbic acid (AA) and various lipophilic antioxidants. Antioxidant composition and concentration varied widely across different fruits. Many of the tropical fruits tested were high in antioxidants. Amongst all fruits tested, sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) had the highest H-ORAC and TPC whilst guava had the highest AA per gram fresh weight. Papaya, red watermelon and cantaloupe had the highest β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and β-carotene per gram fresh weight, respectively. On the other hand, durian and mangosteen were high in tocopherols and tocotrienols, respectively. Based on consumption data, Chinese Singaporeans appear to have a higher intake of carotenoids and tocopherols rich fruits compared to the US population. As fruits are a rich source of diverse antioxidants, efforts to promote consumption of a variety of fruits should be continued for public health benefits.