The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a checklist, compared to a smart pump and bar-code verification system, at detecting different categories of errors in intravenous medication administration. To address this objective, a medication administration safety checklist was first developed in an iterative user-centered design process. The resulting checklist design was then used in a high-fidelity simulation experiment comparing the effectiveness of interventions towards two classifications of error: execution and planning errors. Results showed the checklist provided no additional benefit for error detection over the control condition of current nursing practice. Relative to the checklist group, the smart pump and bar-coding intervention demonstrated increased effectiveness at detecting planning errors. Results of this work will this work will help guide the selection, implementation and design of appropriate interventions for error mitigation in medication administration.

<p>ITT Flygt är ett internationellt bolag som producerar mixers och dränkbara pumpar för den globala marknaden. Den största produktionsanläggningen är placerad i Sverige men det finns ett flertal fabriker runt om i världen, till exempel i Kina. Den kinesiska fabriken i Shenyang producerar pumpar som tillhör det lilla och mellanstora sortimentet. För att vinna fördelar på den kinesiska marknaden har ett projekt startas med målet att komplettera den befintliga tillverkningen i Kina med tillverkning av de största pumparna. Denna rapport beskriver en förstudie av ett produktionssystem anpassat för tillverkning av stora pumpar i Kina.</p><p>En studie av det befintliga produktionssystemet för stora pumpar i Sverige ger en möjlighet att dela in tillverkningen i olika mindre delar, processer. Innehållet i varje process, gränssnitten mellan dem och de resurser som behövs för varje process kartläggs. Dessa parametrar tillsammans med en lista över befintliga resurser i Kina utgör grunden för att ta fram alternativ för det nya produktionssystemet i Kina. De befintliga resurserna i Kina kartläggs med hjälp av intervjuer och studiebesök till fabriken i Shenyang. Det finns ytterligare en fabrik i Kina som kan användas för tillverkningen av stora pumpar. Den är belägen i Nanjing och erbjuder en möjlighet att prova pumpar med befintlig utrustning.</p><p>Bland de möjliga alternativen för ett nytt produktionssystem finns en lösning där alla processer görs i Shenyang men även flera alternativ där tillverkningen delas mellan de två fabrikerna för att utnyttja befintliga resurser så effektivt som möjligt. I jämförelsen mellan de olika alternativen belyses de möjliga lösningarnas fördelar och nackdelar för att ge en så god jämförelse mellan alternativen som möjligt.</p><p>Rekommendationerna är baserade på praktiska aspekter och de teorier som presenteras i rapportens teoridel. Stor vikt har lagts vid förmågan att utnyttja befintliga resurser för att minimera investeringsbehovet och därigenom kompensera för de låga produktionsvolymer som blir aktuella för tillverkningen av stora pumpar i Kina. Det rekommenderade förslaget utnyttjar båda fabrikerna i Kina. Bearbetning och huvudmontering kan göras i Shenyang medan provning och de processer som kommer efter provningen bör göras i Nanjing. Målningens placering bör utredas ytterligare genom att jämföra kostnaderna för de investeringar som måste göras i de olika fabrikerna och väga dem mot fördelarna med att måla pumparna i Shenyang.</p><p>Den rekommenderade lösningen beskrivs på en övergripande nivå där fokus lagts på ordningen i vilken de olika processerna utförs samt var processerna placeras. Nästa steg för företaget är att gå igenom förslaget på en mer detaljrik nivå och designa produktionssystemet mer i detalj för att förbereda för produktionen av stora pumpar i Kina.</p> / <p>ITT Flygt is an international company that produces mixers and submersible pumps for a global market. The main production site is located in Sweden but there are other production plants all over the world, for instance in China. The plant in Shenyang, China, manufactures small and midsize pumps but in order to gain advantages on the Chinese market a project to start production of the largest pumps in China has been initiated. This thesis describes a study of possible alternatives for a production system dedicated to the production of large pumps in China.</p><p>A study of the existing production system for large pumps in Sweden gives a chance to divide the production into smaller parts, processes, to facilitate the future work. The content of each process, the interfaces between the processes and the resources needed for each process are examined. These parameters and the list of existing resources in China are used in the process of generating alternatives for the new production system in China. The list of existing resources in China is created by the means of interviews and studies of Flygt’s factory in Shenyang. There is also another factory in China that can be used for the new production system. This plant, located in Nanjing, can also be used for testing pumps and for other processes, but it has not been visited.</p><p>The possible alternatives include a solution where all the processes are performed in Shenyang and several different options where the work is divided among the two plants in order to utilize the existing resources in the best possible way. In the discussion of possible alternatives their strengths and weaknesses are discussed so that all the proposed ideas are compared relative to each other.</p><p>The recommendations are based on practical aspects as well as theories presented in the theoretical framework. Much emphasis is given to the ability to use existing knowledge and resources in order to minimize the need for investments to compensate for the low volume of large pumps that initially will be produced in China. The recommended system is a solution where both plants are used. The machining and main assembly should be located in Shenyang and the testing and all the processes following the testing should be located in Nanjing. The location of the washing and painting process has to be analyzed further by comparing the costs for needed investments. The costs should also be compared to the advantages of locating the washing and painting process in Shenyang.</p><p>The recommended solutions are discussed on a comprehensive level, mainly focusing on the location and the order of the processes. The next step for the company is to design the processes in detail in order to prepare for the production of large pumps in China.</p>

The use of single mitre oipe bends, in pipework and ducting, is evident in many areas of industry. However, it has been recognized that a theory which embraced all aspects of the elastic behaviour o£ single mitre bends does not exist. The present investigation demonstrates ~~e feasibility of using finite element methods for such a task. After an extensive series of 'verification comparisons' with experimental results obtained by the aUL~or and also with D~eoretical and experimental results available in the literature, a study of a wide range of ~~reinforced and fully fixed mitres was carried out. As a result of this study, useful design curves illustrating ~~e variation of stress concentration factor and flexibility factor, WiL~ radius to ~~ickness ratio and mitre angle, were produced for an inplane bending load. The above verification comparisons included in-plane bending, out-ofplane nending, torsion, internal pressure and transverse force loadings. An investigation into the effect of leg length and material properties on ~~e behaviour of mitre bends was also conducted. As a result of these studies, the limitations of currently used design Code formulae became evident. Possible difficulties in the numerical solution of thin shell problems are highlighted. In addition, a study of various methods of modelling shell intersections is reported. The most comprehensive review of literature to date, on all aspects of mitre bend behaviour, is presented in the Supplement to this thesis.

M. Tech. Mechanical Engineering / Discusses the main objective of this research was to perform an experimental investigation into the heat pump drying performance of biomaterials in South African environmental and climatic conditions.Specific objectives to meet the main goal are: to design and construct a heat pump dryer (HPD) according to local conditions; to set up experimental tests and examine the effect of other vital operating conditions such as relative humidity, drying air velocity and ambient temperature; and to analyse the data in terms of the thermal performance of the heat pump and the drying performance of the dryer

M. Tech. Mechanical Engineering. / Objectives of this research is to investigate the theoretical performance of the heat pump water heating system using R134a and R404A; to investigate effects of superheating and sub-cooling on the COP and energy consumption of the heat pump system; and to validate the theoretical findings with the experiment results, using the selected environmentally friendly refrigerants.

The improvement of blood cell sorting techniques in recent years have attracted the attention of many researchers due to the possible benefits that these methods can lead in biology, regenerative medicine, materials science and therapeutic area. In this work a cell sorting technique based on filtration is described. The separation occurs by means of a microfluidic device, suitably designed, manufactured and tested, that is connected to an external experimental set-up. The fabrication process can be divided in two parts: at first it is described the manufacturing process of a filtering membrane, with holes of specific size that allow the passage of only certain cell types. Following the microfluidic device is fabricated through the mechanical micromilling. The membrane and the microdevice are suitably bonded and tested by means of an external connection with syringe pumps that inject blood samples at specific flow rates. The device is designed to separate blood cells and tumor cells only by using differences in size and shape. In particular during the first experiments red blood cells and platelets are sorted from white blood cells; in the other experiments red blood cells and platelets are separated from white blood cells and tumor cells. The microdevice has proven to be very efficient, in fact a capture efficiency of 99% is achieved. For this reason it could be used in identification and isolation of circulating tumor cells, a very rare cancer cell type whose presence in the bloodstream could be symptom of future solid tumor formation. The various experiments have also demonstrated that tumor cells survive even after the separation treatment, and then the suffered stress during the sorting process does not harm the biological sample.

ITT Flygt är ett internationellt bolag som producerar mixers och dränkbara pumpar för den globala marknaden. Den största produktionsanläggningen är placerad i Sverige men det finns ett flertal fabriker runt om i världen, till exempel i Kina. Den kinesiska fabriken i Shenyang producerar pumpar som tillhör det lilla och mellanstora sortimentet. För att vinna fördelar på den kinesiska marknaden har ett projekt startas med målet att komplettera den befintliga tillverkningen i Kina med tillverkning av de största pumparna. Denna rapport beskriver en förstudie av ett produktionssystem anpassat för tillverkning av stora pumpar i Kina. En studie av det befintliga produktionssystemet för stora pumpar i Sverige ger en möjlighet att dela in tillverkningen i olika mindre delar, processer. Innehållet i varje process, gränssnitten mellan dem och de resurser som behövs för varje process kartläggs. Dessa parametrar tillsammans med en lista över befintliga resurser i Kina utgör grunden för att ta fram alternativ för det nya produktionssystemet i Kina. De befintliga resurserna i Kina kartläggs med hjälp av intervjuer och studiebesök till fabriken i Shenyang. Det finns ytterligare en fabrik i Kina som kan användas för tillverkningen av stora pumpar. Den är belägen i Nanjing och erbjuder en möjlighet att prova pumpar med befintlig utrustning. Bland de möjliga alternativen för ett nytt produktionssystem finns en lösning där alla processer görs i Shenyang men även flera alternativ där tillverkningen delas mellan de två fabrikerna för att utnyttja befintliga resurser så effektivt som möjligt. I jämförelsen mellan de olika alternativen belyses de möjliga lösningarnas fördelar och nackdelar för att ge en så god jämförelse mellan alternativen som möjligt. Rekommendationerna är baserade på praktiska aspekter och de teorier som presenteras i rapportens teoridel. Stor vikt har lagts vid förmågan att utnyttja befintliga resurser för att minimera investeringsbehovet och därigenom kompensera för de låga produktionsvolymer som blir aktuella för tillverkningen av stora pumpar i Kina. Det rekommenderade förslaget utnyttjar båda fabrikerna i Kina. Bearbetning och huvudmontering kan göras i Shenyang medan provning och de processer som kommer efter provningen bör göras i Nanjing. Målningens placering bör utredas ytterligare genom att jämföra kostnaderna för de investeringar som måste göras i de olika fabrikerna och väga dem mot fördelarna med att måla pumparna i Shenyang. Den rekommenderade lösningen beskrivs på en övergripande nivå där fokus lagts på ordningen i vilken de olika processerna utförs samt var processerna placeras. Nästa steg för företaget är att gå igenom förslaget på en mer detaljrik nivå och designa produktionssystemet mer i detalj för att förbereda för produktionen av stora pumpar i Kina. / ITT Flygt is an international company that produces mixers and submersible pumps for a global market. The main production site is located in Sweden but there are other production plants all over the world, for instance in China. The plant in Shenyang, China, manufactures small and midsize pumps but in order to gain advantages on the Chinese market a project to start production of the largest pumps in China has been initiated. This thesis describes a study of possible alternatives for a production system dedicated to the production of large pumps in China. A study of the existing production system for large pumps in Sweden gives a chance to divide the production into smaller parts, processes, to facilitate the future work. The content of each process, the interfaces between the processes and the resources needed for each process are examined. These parameters and the list of existing resources in China are used in the process of generating alternatives for the new production system in China. The list of existing resources in China is created by the means of interviews and studies of Flygt’s factory in Shenyang. There is also another factory in China that can be used for the new production system. This plant, located in Nanjing, can also be used for testing pumps and for other processes, but it has not been visited. The possible alternatives include a solution where all the processes are performed in Shenyang and several different options where the work is divided among the two plants in order to utilize the existing resources in the best possible way. In the discussion of possible alternatives their strengths and weaknesses are discussed so that all the proposed ideas are compared relative to each other. The recommendations are based on practical aspects as well as theories presented in the theoretical framework. Much emphasis is given to the ability to use existing knowledge and resources in order to minimize the need for investments to compensate for the low volume of large pumps that initially will be produced in China. The recommended system is a solution where both plants are used. The machining and main assembly should be located in Shenyang and the testing and all the processes following the testing should be located in Nanjing. The location of the washing and painting process has to be analyzed further by comparing the costs for needed investments. The costs should also be compared to the advantages of locating the washing and painting process in Shenyang. The recommended solutions are discussed on a comprehensive level, mainly focusing on the location and the order of the processes. The next step for the company is to design the processes in detail in order to prepare for the production of large pumps in China.

The motivation of the research presented in this thesis was to investigate the potential of using a commercial 2.3 kW heat pump dehumidifier (HPD) simultaneously as a dryer for high-moisture agricultural products and for other domestic dehumidification/heating applications. A drying system incorporating the HPD was designed and constructed, along with instrumentation to gather data on the properties of process air as well as real-time weight of the material being dried. The HPD was equipped with an external water-cooled condenser that rejected excess heat out of the system. The design of the system allowed for conducting drying with recirculation of air as well as use of electrical heaters. In an open mode, the drying could be carried out simultaneously with room dehumidification and water heating in the secondary condenser. / The drying experiments were conducted with apple, tomato and agar gels. The system was found to be more effective in drying of material with higher amount of free moisture such as tomato. Comparisons were made between HPD assisted drying (partial and complete) and hot air drying (at 45°C and 65°C) in the same system using apple as the test material. Colour changes (L*a*b* values) in the samples were compared between treatments. It was observed that the degree of undesirable colour change was least in case of the HPD assisted system. The HPD dried fruit exhibited better rehydration properties than the hot air dried samples. Water activity of the HPD dried samples was noticeably lower than that of the hot air dried samples at the same water content, indicating that the residual moisture was probably held under higher tension. Histological observation indicated that there was a lesser degree of damage to the cellular structure of apple when dried with the HPD than when dried with hot air alone. / In terms of energy consumption, the process of HPD assisted drying is more expensive. Much of the energy input is rejected at the secondary condenser as excess heat. Unless this heat is recovered for another purpose, or the system is modified to reuse it for drying, the drying process must carry this loss entirely. The specific moisture extraction rate (SMER) for apple was as low as 0.1 kg per kWh with the HPD assisted system. The SMER values for drying at 45°C was 0.5 kg per kWh and was almost 0.8 kg per kWh at 65°C. / The HPD assisted drying system demonstrated the ability of heat pumps to link different energy related activities viz., drying, space dehumidification and water heating. The energy expenditure is expected to be impressive when considered for all the related applications. The concept of utilizing heat pumps on farms to link up different energy streams for better utilization of the low-grade heat sources is discussed. A possible drying efficiency assessment in the form of energy-based evaluation is proposed.

Serratia marcescens, a member of Enterobacteriaceae family, is a causative agent of nosocomial and opportunistic infections. Numerous reports show that the multidrug resistance among S. marcescens is growing. This organism has high-level intrinsic resistance to a variety of antimicrobial agents, which makes the treatment of infections caused by this bacterium very difficult. The major mechanism for antibiotic resistance, especially to fluoroquinolones, in Gram-negative organisms is the active efflux of the antibiotic molecule mediated by efflux pumps belonging to the Resistance-Nodulation-Cell Division (RND) family. It was previously shown that the SdeAB and SdeXY multidrug efflux pumps are important for conferring the intrinsic drug resistance in S.marcescens. In Escherichia coli, the up-regulation of transcriptional activators, such as MarA, SoxS and Rob, affect transcription of acrAB, tolC and micF. Over-expression of Rob results in increased expression of the E. coli AcrAB-TolC efflux pump and decreases outer membrane permeability through up-regulation of micF, resulting in multidrug, organic solvent and heavy metal resistance. In the present study, we report the identification of a rob gene in S. marcescens which has a 70% identity at the DNA level and 71% identity at the amino acid level to that of E. coli. Moreover, the S. marcescens rob demonstrated similar properties to the E. coli rob including having an effect on expression of outer membrane protein F (OmpF) and over-expression of SdeAB and SdeXY, conferring antibiotic resistance to divergent antibacterial agents and tolerance to organic solvents. We performed rob promoter evaluations using transcriptional fusions to the Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP) in the vector pGlow-TOPO and constructed a rob knock-out using the TargeTron Gene Knockout System. Promoter activity assessment, using the pGlow-TOPO reporter plasmid, showed that rob had higher promoter activity at 37°C than 30°C. In the presence of 2,2’-dipyridyl, rob promoter activity was observed to be slightly increased in the early and mid-log phase by 1.4 and 1.1 fold, respectively. We also showed that sodium decanoate and sodium salicylate can reduce the transcription of rob at 30°C and 37°C. This reduction was observed more potently when rob was exposed to sodium decanoate at 30°C. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for various antibiotics of the S. marcescens rob knock-out demonstrated a decrease in susceptibility to nalidixic acid, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin. Over-expression of rob resulted in an increased resistance by 4, 2, and 2-fold to nalidixic acid, tetracycline and chloramphenicol, respectively. In addition, rob over-production displayed 8, 4, and 4-fold increase in resistance to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, respectively. To discover the role of rob in the efflux mechanism, we performed ethidium bromide accumulation assays on over-expressing and knock-out strains. Organic solvent tolerance assays were carried out using n-hexane to determine if rob is involved in expression of efflux pumps. We found the rob null mutant to be sensitive to n-hexane while the over-expression of rob resulted in resistance to n-hexane. RT-PCR of the rob knock-out strain showed a decrease in expression of micF, ompC, sdeXY, sdeAB and tolC, respectively, and an increase in the expression of ompF. To conclude, we identified a rob homolog in S. marcescens which contributes to resistance to multiple antibiotics and tolerance to organic solvent.

No description available.