Yes / Women are discharged home from hospital increasingly early, but there is little evidence examining the postnatal hospital discharge process and how this may impact on the health of women and babies. In particular, there is little on sepsis prevention advice, despite it being the biggest direct cause of maternal mortality. Aim To explore the perceptions of women and senior student midwives related to the postnatal hospital discharge process and maternal sepsis prevention advice. Methods Three focus group interviews were undertaken, involving 9 senior student midwives and 14 women attending paid or specialist classes for vulnerable migrant women. Findings All participants believed that the postnatal hospital discharge process was inadequate, rushed and inconsistent. Sepsis advice was patchy and the condition underplayed. Conclusions Cost effective, time-efficient and innovative ways to impart vital information are required to support the postnatal hospital discharge process.

Successful service coordination for the homeless depends on the ability of diverse organizations to effectively collaborate. This study utilizes a life-cycle framework to expand on the collaborative governance theory by highlighting the different stages of collaboration that homeless service networks encounter. Activation, collectivity, and institutionalization are three stages used to uncover the unique nature of emergency discharge planning processes. Since collaboration is not a static process and government regulation for emergency discharge plans were recently enacted in 2012, collaborative networks encounter challenges and success factors at different stages. A qualitative case-study approach of organizational leaders in homeless service networks in Texas (Dallas, Ft. Worth and Houston) examines stages of collaboration. Results show common success and challenge factors identified among the three networks, but the factors take on different forms in relation to where the networks are at in the coordination stages. Practitioners can use the findings from this study as a guide to set up benchmarks and measurable objectives to identify strengths and weaknesses in their coordination processes.

This thesis presents experimental studies of low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma sources with generic ability to effectively treat large-scale three-dimensional (3D) objects. The reported large-scale plasma sources are developed through parallelisation of single plasma jets. This strategy outshines the other reported strategies for treatment of uneven surfaces by being able to produce spatially extended plasma directly onto the surface of heavily three-dimensional objects. Comparable studies of the design of elemental plasma jets bring out a hybrid electrode configuration, the capillary-ring jet, as the best elemental jet to be used in the parallelisation. It is found that the introduction of a ballast resistor to the individual jet circuit or built-in capacitance is important to assure the jet-to-jet synchronism, stability and uniformity. Electrical and optical analyses of one-dimensional (1D) array of atmospheric pressure plasma jets demonstrate robust temporal and spatial jet-to-jet uniformity both for flat and sloped surfaces. Hexagonally-arranged two-dimensional (2D) arrays of atmospheric pressure plasma jets show good level of insusceptibility to variations of the downstream samples in their physical dimensions as well as structural and material properties. The reaction chemistry impact area of a 2D 37-jet array is estimated to be 18.6 cm2. These confirm the plasma jet arrays as a viable option as large-scale atmospheric plasma sources, well suited for many processing applications including plasma medicine. The spatially separated dual-frequency excitation further benefits the plasma jet in that separate control of different important plasma parameters is possible. Enhanced plasma properties achieved by the dual-frequency offer greater potential to the jet arrays.

Apresentamos os resultados de medidas espectroscópicas feitas em átomos de elementos contidos em uma descarga elétrica do tipo catodo oco, usando um laser sintonizável de emissão contínua. Com experiências de absorção ótica foi possível determinar a densidade populacional e a temperatura dos átomos de 238U no estado fundamental, em função dos vários parâmetros que caracterizam a descarga. Desenvolvemos um método para a determinação da potência de saturação e calculamos o valor do produto para a transição 0 16.900cm-1 do 238UI. De forma alternativa às medidas óticas oudemos estudar a interação fóton-átomo analisando o sinal optogalvânico induzido na descarga pela radiação laser, com frequência sintonizada na mesma transição atômica do urânio e em função dos parâmetros anteriormente considerados. Os resultados obtidos com as experiências de absorção ótica e espectroscopia optogalvânica / The results of spectroscopic measurements obtained with atomic species present in a hollow cathode type discharge are reported. Using laser optical absorption techniques it was possible to get the population density and the atomic temperature of the 238UI ground state as a function of some discharge parameters. A method to determine the laser saturation intensity was developed, so the value of the product for the 0 16.900cm-1 238UI transition could be calculated. It was also possible to study the photon-atom interaction through the analysis of the optogalvanic signal induced in the laser radiation as a function of the same parameters considered before. Optogalvanic spectroscopy and optical absorption experiments showed the spatial distribution of the atoms in the ground state and excited states inside the cathode. In another set of experiments, a new way of inducing optogalvanic effect was investigated without using a tunable dye laser as the axcitation source. Measurements were done with two copper hollow cathode tubes filled with different gases, that were used as excitation source radiation and as signal detector. The results suggest that it is possible to use the new spectroscopy tecnique for qualitative and quantitative material analysis.

Apresentamos os resultados de medidas espectroscópicas feitas em átomos de elementos contidos em uma descarga elétrica do tipo catodo oco, usando um laser sintonizável de emissão contínua. Com experiências de absorção ótica foi possível determinar a densidade populacional e a temperatura dos átomos de 238U no estado fundamental, em função dos vários parâmetros que caracterizam a descarga. Desenvolvemos um método para a determinação da potência de saturação e calculamos o valor do produto para a transição 0 16.900cm-1 do 238UI. De forma alternativa às medidas óticas oudemos estudar a interação fóton-átomo analisando o sinal optogalvânico induzido na descarga pela radiação laser, com frequência sintonizada na mesma transição atômica do urânio e em função dos parâmetros anteriormente considerados. Os resultados obtidos com as experiências de absorção ótica e espectroscopia optogalvânica / The results of spectroscopic measurements obtained with atomic species present in a hollow cathode type discharge are reported. Using laser optical absorption techniques it was possible to get the population density and the atomic temperature of the 238UI ground state as a function of some discharge parameters. A method to determine the laser saturation intensity was developed, so the value of the product for the 0 16.900cm-1 238UI transition could be calculated. It was also possible to study the photon-atom interaction through the analysis of the optogalvanic signal induced in the laser radiation as a function of the same parameters considered before. Optogalvanic spectroscopy and optical absorption experiments showed the spatial distribution of the atoms in the ground state and excited states inside the cathode. In another set of experiments, a new way of inducing optogalvanic effect was investigated without using a tunable dye laser as the axcitation source. Measurements were done with two copper hollow cathode tubes filled with different gases, that were used as excitation source radiation and as signal detector. The results suggest that it is possible to use the new spectroscopy tecnique for qualitative and quantitative material analysis.

The field of ambient desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (ADI-MS) has existed for over a decade. ADI-MS is a technique that offers benefits including fast analysis time, simple ionization sources that are easily constructed, and little to no required sample preparation. The research presented here describes efforts to better understand plasma-based ADI-MS sources and to explore the use of hydrogen-doped plasma gases with these sources. The use of hydrogen-doped argon (H2/Ar) and hydrogen-doped helium (H2/He) as plasma gases for a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) and an AC glow discharge is presented first. When using the DBD, the intensity of the signal obtained when analyzing organic molecules in positive ion mode was increased by factors up to 37 times. In negative ion mode, only H2/Ar was shown to enhance the signal of an organic analyte. The limits of detection for caffeine when using hydrogen-doped plasma gases were found to decrease by factors of 78 and 1.9 for H2/Ar and H2/He respectively. The same phenomenon was observed when using H2/Ar with the AC discharge, but no signal enhancement was observed when using hydrogen-doped helium with the AC discharge. Similarly, if the DBD was allowed to ground through a wire rather than through the air, no signal enhancement was observed for H2/He. Using H2/Ar with metal samples is presented second. By using the metal sample as the grounded electrode for the AC glow discharge, many different metals could be detected directly with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) in the form of atomic ions both on their own and in combination with water and ammonia from the discharge. Any refractory metals tested did not yield signal. In addition to direct analysis with a TOF-MS, the AC discharge was used as a sampling method for an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). When coupled with an ICP-MS, the AC glow discharge was found capable of sampling even refractory elements, though the power of the ICP was required for ionization and detection. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of a copper surface exposed to the plasma discharge showed signs of melting when using the H2/Ar. Finally, a computer simulation of the chemistry and flow dynamics of a DC glow discharge generated in helium is presented. The simulation explores many of the fundamental processes at work and how they depend on the composition of the plasma gas. The generation of important species in the plasma was found to depend more on the amount of N2 and H2O impurities in the plasma gas rather than on the humidity or air pressure.

Water resources are increasingly precious, so wastewater reclaiming has become an important source of water nowadays. There are many types of industry including conventional and hi-tech ones in the selected industrial processing zone, where different process wastewaters are treated by a centralized wastewater treatment plant. The effluent is then discharged into the ocean (EDO). On the other hand, among several other industries backside grinding (BG) wastewater generated by the IC (integrated-circuit) packaging and testing industry is treated by their owned wastewater treatment plants and then discharged onto land (EDL). Normally, BG wastewater is huge in quantity and it contains microscale and nanoscale particles. The objectives of this research were two-fold: (1) to evaluate the feasibility of using two tubular ceramic membranes (microfiltration and ultrafiltration) coupled with the electrocoagulation/electrofiltration (EC/EF) process to effectively treat the effluent discharged into the ocean, effluent discharged onto land, and BG wastewater for the purpose of reclamation; and (2) to investigate the best time for backwashing of membranes through the analysis of components of membrane fouling using resistances in series model. The experimental results showed that the ultrafiltration (UF) membrane (i.e., tubular TiO2/Al2O3 composite membrane) outperformed the mictrofiltration (MF) membrane (i.e., tubular Al2O3 membrane) in terms of permeate quality. But, generally, the later yielded a greater membrane flux. In the case of BG wastewater by UF and EC/EF, the quality of permeate met the tap water standards in terms of water quality items analyzed. As for EDO and EDL further treated by UF and EC/EF, all the analyzed water quality items of permeate, except pH and total dissolved solids, met the tap water standards in Taiwan. Thus, more efforts have to be made to reclaim these two types of effluent. Finally, the components of membrane fouling were analyzed using resistances in series model for the tested water specimens. The results showed that generally the irreversible resistance component (Rirr) had a greater contribution to a better quality of permeate than that of the reversible resistance component (Rr). It was also found that the magnitude of Rirr of BG wastewater was greater than Rirr values of the other two effluents. This might explain why the quality of permeate of the former was better than the latter. The results further indicated that Rr increased more than Rirr as the operating time elapsed, resulting in a limited improvement of permeate quality even a longer treatment time was employed. To recover the membrane flux to its optimum, in this study the best time for backwashing of membrane was determined based on the time at which Rr was greater than Rirr. However, the flux recovery was found to be in the range of 60-77% as compared with the initial flux for a virgin membrane in treating new batch of water specimens. The fraction unable to recover by backwashing might be contributed by Rirr in the membrane pores. A further acid washing would resolve this problem.

This thesis aimed to explore systematic health service problems that are related to frequent readmission of persons suffering from severe mental illnesses to Valkenberg Hospital. Reduction of acute and chronic beds in the Associated Psychiatric Hospitals, Western Cape over the past decade has led to increasing pressure for beds and rapid inpatient turnover, many of these inpatients being &quot / revolving door&quot / patients. Integration of mental health service into general health services, an intrinsic part of the comprehensive primary health care approach in South Africa, is supposed to make mental health care more accessible the public, therefore research into why patients are being frequently readmitted at secondary specialist level is indicated.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a public smoking ban on the hospital admissions due to acute myocardial infarction in Delaware County, Indiana. The study population consists of all the patients admitted to Ball Memorial Hospital during three 22-month periods with a primary or secondary discharge diagnosis code of acute myocardial infarction (ICD-9-CM) immediately prior to the implementation of the ordinance. Chi-square was conducted for the three 22-month periods of hospital admissions. A significant drop occurred in the number of admissions among nonsmoking patients in Delaware County. The changes in the number of smoking-patient admissions before and after the ban were not significant. / Access to thesis and accompanying PDF permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Physiology and Health Science