A huge number of experiments were carried out in the field of nitrogen post-discharges during the last 50 or 60 years and they were supported by many published theoretical works. Some papers were focused also on the nitrogen active discharge, post-discharge itself, or they focused mainly on the kinetic processes running during the post-discharge period. This experimental work shows how oxygen titration into post-discharge will influence nitrogen flowing post-discharge. Experimental data were obtained by optical emission spectrometry, Spectra were measured in the range 300 - 700 nm at laboratory temperature of 300K. Discharge current was kept constant at the value of 120 mA relating to the total discharge power of 145 W. Pressure was kept constant, too, at the value of 1000 Pa. The nitrogen of 99.9999 % purity (further purified by Oxiclear column) flow was adjusted at 0.8 l/min. Flow of oxygen (99.95 % purity) through he titration capillary introduced to post-discharge from down stream direction, was kept at 4 ml/min. Both gas flows were controlled by mass flow controllers. The optical emission spectrometer Jobin Yvon TRIAX 550 with 300 gr/mm grating equipped by liquid nitrogen cooled CCD detector was used for the spectra acquisition. The integration time of 1 s was used at all experiments. The position of titration tube end introduced into post discharge from the down stream side was set from 5 to 25 cm with respect to the end of the active discharge; the step of 1 cm was used. The optical emission spectra were measured at positions from 3 to 29 cm with respect to the active discharge end. The following nitrogen spectral systems were identified in the spectra: 1st positive, 1st negative and 2nd positive. Besides them, some bands of NO-beta system were found. The intensity profiles along the post discharge were obtained for selected vibrational spectral bands of these spectral systems and changes in the vibrational distributions of upper electronic states of these spectral systems were determined.

No description available.

Approximately 65% of all surgeries are conducted in the outpatient surgery setting involving more than 35 million patients. Thirty-five to fifty percent of these outpatients will experience post discharge nausea and vomiting (PDNV), nausea and vomiting that occurs after discharge from the health care facility after surgery. A dearth of literature details the problems associated with nausea and vomiting experienced by patients after discharge home from outpatient surgery. The purposes of this dissertation were to (1) review the current knowledge in the area of post discharge nausea and vomiting; (2) present results of an integrative review of the research literature to determine best evidence for prevention of PDNV in adults or rescue of patients who suffer from post discharge nausea and vomiting (PDNV); (3) present a critical review and analysis of measurement of nausea and vomiting after discharge from outpatient surgery, and (4) present findings of a prospective research study. The purposes of the research study were to: 1) describe the incidence and severity of PDNV over a 7-day period in a sample of adult surgical patients undergoing outpatient surgeries under general anesthesia, 2) describe the pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic modalities of care used by patients with PDNV to manage it, 3) compare the incidence and severity of PDNV between those who do and do not use pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic modalities, and 4) determine outcomes associated with PDNV. This study was part of a multi-site study that had as a primary objective development of a simplified risk model for predicting patients most likely to suffer PDNV. In this research study we described the incidence and severity of PDNV in adult outpatients after ambulatory surgery, described the pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic modalities of care used by patients with PDNV to manage it, compared the incidence and severity of PDNV between those who do and do not use pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic modalities, and determined outcomes associated with PDNV.

Stroke is a worldwide medical emergency, and the trend in its incidence is rising. Stroke leads to activity limitation and participation restriction among stroke clients. However rehabilitation of stroke disability has been found as lacking emphasis on reintegration issues, resulting into stroke clients facing different barriers to reintegration in the community after discharge. There is limited information about experiences of stroke clients in the communities after discharge from rehabilitation centers in Malawi. The current study was conducted to explore the barriers to reintegration experienced by the clients post discharge from a rehabilitation center in Malawi. A qualitative research was adopted to explore the perceived barriers to reintegration at Malawi Against Physical Disabilities (MAP) Kachere rehabilitation centre in Blantyre. In-depth interviews were utilized to capture data from rerspectives of eight stroke clients, eight caregivers and seven service providers. The data was analyzed by means of content analysis. The findings of this study show key barriers that challenge community reintegration at two levels: individual and environmental. At individual level the barriers include impairments mainly depression and anxiety and physical weakness; and personal characteristics such as denial, gender and comorbidity. At the environmental level stroke clients experience attitudinal barriers by people in different settings of the community, poor terrain, long distance to places of interest, inaccessible structures and poverty. From the findings, therefore, stroke client experience wide range of barriers in both the activity and participation domains of community reintegration. Based on the key findings, recommendations have been made along three broad lines. To decrease barriers to reintegration, service providers could use the findings to consider equally addressing the potential negative contextual factors to reintegration when managing stroke clients, a shift from purely medical model approach to management of stroke. To increase rehabilitation services the government of Malawi could address the problem of limited funding to rehabilitation organizations and put measures to increase number of rehabilitation personnel at community, district and national levels. Further research in the area of community reintegration and development of a model of stroke care and rehabilitation in the country has also been recommended with view to improving stroke care and enhanced community reintegration post stroke in the country. / Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio)

No description available.

The aim of this master thesis is to study the influence of metallic atoms on nitrogen post-discharge. Pure nitrogen post-discharge is a subject study of many works dealing with kinetic processes in plasma. Unfortunately, there are only a few published works that present influence of various traces on nitrogen post-discharge kinetics. This master thesis deals with problems of nitrogen post-discharge containing mercury traces. All experimental data were obtained using optical emission spectroscopy of a DC discharge in a flowing mode, which can achieve appropriate temporal resolution in the order of milliseconds. Spectra emitted during the post-discharge were recorded in the range of 320-780 nm and the following molecular spectral systems were identified: • 1. positive system of nitrogen: N2(B) -> N2(A), • 2. positive system of nitrogen: N2(C) -> N2(B), • 1. negative system of nitrogen: N2+(C) -> N2+(X), • NO-beta system: NO(B) -> NO(X). Besides them we were able to record the mercury line at 254 nm, only (in the spectrum of the first as well as in the second order); no other mercury lines were observed. The mercury vapor was introduced into the system at selected post-discharge time. Dependence of selected molecular band head intensities as well as mercury line intensity on experimental conditions (pressure, discharge power, wall temperature, time of mercury vapor introduction) were observed in time evaluation. The data obtained in pure nitrogen were used as a reference. The obtained results showed very high sensitivity of kinetic processes on mercury atoms presence. If mercury was introduced into the post-discharge the mercury line was observable around the site where mercury vapor was introduced into the discharge. The experimental data showed that mercury line intensity was directly proportional to the mercury atoms concentration and saturation effect could be observed. The energy level diagram demonstrates that the observed mercury line can be excited by collisions with nitrogen ground state molecule excited to vibrational level 18. Thus the mercury can be used for the monitoring of population at this vibrational level. Finally we obtained the population profile at this nitrogen metastable level during the post-discharge. The presented work demonstrates possibility of mercury atoms application for the monitoring of one nitrogen metastable state. Unfortunately, the contemporary data are not sufficient for the measurement of metastable absolute concentration. However, complex understanding of nitrogen post-discharge kinetics is still an open problem. Therefore a lot of future work should be done although the presented work brings a good fundament for such research.

Over 5 million older adults with diabetes are hospitalized each year. Though typically not the index condition that leads to hospitalization, diabetes control often decompensates during the course of an admission and necessitates changes in home self-management plans. The specific transitional care needs of older adults with diabetes have been largely unstudied. Transition theory provided the guiding framework for this research and proposes that each transition is a complex process created by the continuous interaction of personal, community, and societal-level conditions that facilitate or inhibit the health of a transition. Hospitalization has been described as a series of three successive, interrelated transitions. The aims of this study were to determine whether personal and community transition conditions impacted the early and intermediate post-discharge outcomes in a sample of older adults with diabetes. A simultaneous quantitative/qualitative mixed method design was used to identify factors that impacted the home recovery transition experiences in a sample of 96 older adults with a mean age of 75 years. A supplementary content analysis of free-response data gathered during administration of the Post-Discharge Coping Difficulty Scale (PDCDS) clarified difficulties encountered by elders and caregivers during in the first 30 days following discharge. Four overarching themes emerged: "the daily stuff is difficult"; "engineering care at home is difficult"; "life is stressful" and "difficulty managing complex health problems". Difficulties managing a complex medication regimen, regulating blood glucose, and managing a non-diabetes chronic health problem such as hypertension and chronic lung disease were subthemes that emerged during qualitative data analyses. These subthemes were transposed into discrete nominal level variables and served as additional indicators of post-discharge coping difficulty in the descriptive correlational core component of the research project. Participants in this study who experienced an event of recidivism had lower pre-discharge assessments of readiness on the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) (t = 2.274, df = 48, p =.028). Higher PDCDS scores were observed in patients who experienced an event of recidivism within 30 days of discharge (t = -3.363, df=24.7, p = .003) and also in respondents who described difficulties with managing medications, controlling diabetes, and managing a chronic illness. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors that may predict recidivism risk. No condition-specific predictor variables were identified. A statistically significant three-variable model (X2 = 26.737, df = 3, p < .001) revealed that PDCDS scores at 7 days (Wald X2 =3.671, df = 1, p =.050), PDCDS scores at 30 days (Wald X2 = 6.723, df = 1, p =.010), and difficulty managing a chronic health condition (Wald X2 = 8.200, df = 1, p =.004) were predictive of an event of recidivism within 30 days of discharge. Difficulty managing a chronic health problem other than diabetes was particularly predictive of recidivism. The nurse's skill in delivering discharge education was a factor in limiting early postdischarge difficulties. Elders with residual information needs on the day of discharge as measured by scores the Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale (QDTS) reported a lower readiness for discharge (r = -.314, p = .003) and experienced greater difficulties with early post-discharge coping (r =. 288, p = .023). Greater satisfaction with the post-discharge transition was noted in participants with higher QDTS scores (r = .444, p < .001). Outcomes of the hospital-to-home transition experience were impacted by a variety of personal, hospital, and community factors. Findings of this study suggest that there is a need to better understand the sequential nature of the home recovery transition and the fluid needs of older adults during this high-risk phase of care. The environments in which older adults receive post-discharge care are complex and need to be thoroughly considered when planning the postdischarge transition. Metrics of institutional performance of transitional care practices need to extend beyond events to recidivism and include evaluations of post-discharge coping and transition satisfaction. The nurse as the primary provider of discharge education has the potential to significantly promote positive transition outcomes for older adults and their family care providers.

L'objet de cette thèse traite du dépôt de couches minces photocatalytiques de dioxyde de titane par l'utilisation d'un dispositif plasma à la pression atmosphérique. Le dispositif industriel utilisé permet le traitement du substrat en post-décharge à basse température. L'objectif à terme est le développement d'un procédé de dépôt en vue de recouvrir des pièces 3D thermosensibles d'un revêtement autonettoyant à moindre coût. Après avoir mis en évidence les bonnes propriétés photocatalytiques des dépôts effectués dans le cadre de cette thèse, le présent travail s'est focalisé sur la compréhension des mécanismes responsables cette photocatalycité. Pour ce faire, trois séries de dépôts correspondant à trois températures de substrat différentes ont été étudiées selon leur composition chimique, leurs mécanismes de croissance et leur cristallinité. Il ressort de cette étude que la photoactivité des dépôts est essentiellement le fait de leur importante surface spécifique ; la cristallinité, bien que présente à haute température de substrat, semblant avoir une influence moindre. Cette surface spécifique est quant à elle due à la croissance d'agglomérats, dont l'adhésion au dépôt diminue avec leur taille. Formés en phase gaz dans des boucles de recirculation, ceux-ci semblent se développer du fait de multiples phénomènes : croissance CVD à leur surface, « agglomération de surface » et « redépôt ». Aussi, il apparait qu'à débit de précurseur donné, leur nombre et leur taille sont deux facteurs intimement liés. Ainsi, en vue de l'optimisation du procédé de dépôt, la maîtrise de leur formation est nécessaire. Celle-ci passe par la diminution du débit de précurseur, de la puissance incidente et de l'ensemble des débits de gaz, telles sont les perspectives principales de ce travail / This PhD work deals with the deposition of photocatalytic thin films of titanium dioxide at low temperature in the post-discharge of an atmospheric pressure plasma process. The main objective is the development of a low cost route for the deposition of self-cleaning coatings on 3D thermosensitive substrates. The deposited coatings present good photocatalytic properties which origin is firstly investigated. The elemental composition, the growth mechanisms and the crystallinity of three series of coatings corresponding to three different deposition temperatures are studied. The high specific surface of the coatings, due to the growth of agglomerates, appears to be the main parameter responsible for such photocatalytic properties. But these agglomerates are also responsible for the poor mechanical properties of the coatings as their adhesion decreases with their size. These agglomerates are formed in gas phase in recirculation loops and develop through multiple phenomena: CVD growth, agglomeration at the surface of the coating and redeposition due to the influence of the post-discharge on the surface of the coating. Moreover, at a given precursor flow rate, their number and their size are interlocked. Thus, with the aim of optimizing the deposition process, the control of the formation of such structures through the decrease of the precursor flow rate, the power input and the gas flows are mandatory and are a perspective of this PhD work

The presented Thesis deals on the nitrogen-hydrogen DC post-discharge observations by optical emission spectroscopy. The plasma was generated in Pyrex tube in flowing regime at pressure of 1 kPa at discharge current of 100 mA. The optical emission spectra were recovered at discharge times up to 50 ms in nitrogen containing 0 – 92 % of hydrogen; the gas mixture volume, i.e. the gas speed in the system was conserved for all mixtures. The experiments were carried out at two reactor wall temperatures at the spectra collecting point – at ambient temperature and at the wall temperature of liquid nitrogen (temperature in plasma was about 150 K). The nitrogen first and second positive and first negative spectral systems were identified in the spectra, the hydrogen atomic Balmer series lines were recorded, too. No molecular hydrogen emission was determined during the post-discharge. Some non-identified bands (but with high probability bands of nitrogen Herman infrared system) at 690 and 780 nm were detected, too, mainly at low temperature. The intensities of all determined radiating species decreased exponentially or more than exponentially with the decay time. The experimental data showed strong quenching of all nitrogen radiative states even at very a few percent hydrogen additions. The shape of the selected intensity dependencies on both hydrogen concentration, and the decay time are nearly the same for N2(C) and N2+(B) states, dependencies for N2(B) levels differs of them. The hydrogen line emission was nearly independent on the hydrogen content in the gas mixture up to about 50%, at highest hydrogen concentrations it slightly increased. The results obtained at the decreased wall temperature were very similar, only intensities of all nitrogen spectra increased by the factor about 3, the intensities of levels populated by the recombination of nitrogen atoms increased by factor about five. The atomic hydrogen alpha line (at 656 nm) was the most sensitive on temperature decrease; its intensity increased over one order in whole observed time interval. The obtained results will be confronted with numeric model of kinetic processes in the near future. After that, the specific conditions applicable for the technological applications of nitrogen-hydrogen gas mixtures under post-discharge conditions will be proposed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:58:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EdsonJCS_DISSERT.pdf: 1649413 bytes, checksum: 32339cc7487693336b6710eaa3e1c93c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-05 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Many applications require that the plasma discharge is produced apart from the surface to be processed, thus preventing damage caused by bombardment and/or plasma radiation. In the post-discharge regime in various applications thermally sensitive materials can be used. In this work, active species produced by discharge and post-discharge hollow cathode were diagnosed by optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The discharge was produced with the gases Ar and Ar - N2 gas flow ranging from 1 to 6 cm3/min and electric current between 150 to 600 mA. It was estimated that the ion density inside the hollow cathode, with 2 mm diameter ranged between 7.71 and 14.1 x 1015 cm-3. It was observed that the gas flow and the electric current changes the emission intensity of Ar and N2 species. The major ionic species detected by quadrupole mass spectrometry were Ar+ and N2+. The ratio of optical emission intensities of N2(1 +)/Ar(811 nm) was related to the partial pressure of N2 after the hollow cathode discharge at low pressure / Muitas aplica??es de plasma exigem que a descarga seja produzida distante da superf?cie a ser processada, evitando assim danos causados pelo bombardeamento e/ou radia??o do plasma. Nesse regime de p?s-descarga v?rias aplica??es em materiais termicamente sens?veis podem ser utilizadas. Neste trabalho esp?cies ativas produzidas por descarga e p?s-descarga de catodo oco foram diagnosticadas por espectroscopia de emiss?o ?ptica e espectrometria de massa. A descarga foi produzida com os gases Ar e mistura Ar - N2 com fluxo de g?s variando de 1 a 6 cm3/min e corrente el?trica entre 150 a 600 mA. Estimou-se que a densidade de ?ons no interior do c?todo oco, com 2 mm de di?metro, variou entre 7,71 e 14,1 x 1015 cm-3. Observou-se que o fluxo de g?s e a corrente el?trica alteram a intensidade de emiss?o das esp?cies de Ar e N2. As principais esp?cies i?nicas detectadas por espectrometria de massa quadrupolar foram de Ar+ e N2+. A raz?o das intensidades de emiss?o ?tica de N2 (1 +)/Ar(811 nm) foi relacionada com a press?o parcial de N2 na p?s-descarga de c?todo oco em baixa press?o