A system-on-chip digital pH meter for use in a wireless diagnostic capsule

This paper describes the design and implementation of a system-on-chip digital pH meter, for use in a wireless capsule application. The system is organized around an 8-bit microcontroller, designed to be functionally identical to the Motorola 6805. The analog subsystem contains a floating-electrode ISFET, which is fully compatible with a commercial CMOS process. On-chip programmable voltage references and multiplexors permit flexibility with the minimum of external connections. The chip is designed in a modular fashion to facilitate verification and component re-use. The single-chip pH meter can be directly connected to a personal computer, and gives a response of 37 bits/pH, within an operating range of 7 pH units

Design of a single-chip pH sensor using a conventional 0.6-μm CMOS process

A pH sensor fabricated on a single chip by an unmodified, commercial 0.6-/spl μm CMOS process is presented. The sensor comprises a circuit for making differential measurements between an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) and a reference FET (REFET). The ISFET has a floating-gate structure and uses the silicon nitride passivation layer as a pH-sensitive insulator. As fabricated, it has a large threshold voltage that is postulated to be caused by a trapped charge on the floating gate. Ultraviolet radiation and bulk-substrate biasing is used to permanently modify the threshold voltage so that the ISFET can be used in a battery-operated circuit. A novel post-processing method using a single layer of photoresist is used to define the sensing areas and to provide robust encapsulation for the chip. The complete circuit, operating from a single 3-V supply, provides an output voltage proportional to pH and can be powered down when not required

Speaking my patient's language: bilingual nurses’ perspective about provision of language concordant care to patients with limited English proficiency

Aim The aim of this study was to explore bilingual nurses’ perspective about providing language concordant care to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) and its impact on patients and nurses. Factors affecting the provision of language concordant care to patients LEP were also explored. Background With an increase in migration and mobility of people across the world, the likelihood of experiencing language barriers while providing and receiving care is high. Nurses are responsible for providing care to patients regardless of their culture, religion, ethnic background or language. Language barriers, however, are hurdles that hamper development of effective communication between nurses and patients. Eliminating language barriers is a crucial step in providing culturally competent and patient-centred care. Design Qualitative descriptive study. Methods During January-August 2015, 59 nurses, working in acute hospitals in the UK, participated in 26 individual in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Four themes: ‘when we speak the same language’; ‘when I speak my patient's language’; ‘what facilitates provision of language concordant care’ and ‘what hinders the provision of language concordant care’ were identified. Factors affecting nurses’ ability to provide language concordant care included individual factors (confidence; years of experience as a nurse; years of experience in the work setting; and relationship with colleagues), patients’ expectation, attitudes of other patients, colleagues and nurse managers, organizational culture and organizational policies. Conclusion Bilingual nurses can play a very important role in the provision of language concordant for patients with LEP. Further research is needed to explore patient perspective

Spousal role expectations and marital conflict: perspectives of men and women

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of people across the world and is associated with a significant impact on physical and mental health of the victim. IPV often takes place within the context of marriage, where gender role expectations can play an important part in shaping attitudes towards it. While there is much research carried out to understand the phenomenon of IPV, little relates to how a husband and wife’s accounts of spousal role expectations of each other contribute to marital conflict. The issue of IPV within marriage is highly sensitive, particularly in a patriarchy such as Pakistan. The aim of this unique study was to explore the perspective of Pakistani men and women about a husband and wife’s role expectations and how fulfillment of such spousal role expectations impacts on marital conflict, and thereby IPV. Using the community setting, data for this qualitative study were collected through 41 individual interviews, including 20 from Pakistan and 21 from the UK. The findings are presented in two main themes, each containing two subthemes. The theme “provider and protector” relates to the role expectations from a husband, whereas “caretaker and household manager” relates to the role expectations of a wife. Overall, husbands and wives have numerous expectations of each other, and these expectations are shaped by gender role attitudes alongside cultural and societal norms. Unmet expectations and deviation of behavior from the perceived norms can result in the development of marital conflict which can escalate to IPV. The significance of this study lies in understanding spousal role expectations from the perspectives of husbands and wives and how unmet expectations contribute to marital conflict and IPV is important for health care professionals within family health contexts. This article provides a detailed insight of this largely hidden phenomena

Influences of extended family on intimate partner violence: perceptions of Pakistanis in Pakistan and the United Kingdom

Limited research has been undertaken on the role of extended family members in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). This study uniquely explores the perspective of Pakistani men and women about the role of a husband and wife's families in relation to marital conflict and IPV. For this qualitative study, data were collected through 41 individual interviews, including 20 from Pakistan and 21 from the United Kingdom. The findings are presented in four themes, including "privacy and personal space," "interference and instigation of problems," "conflicting and uncommunicated expectations," and "adjustment facilitation." A lack of privacy and personal space within a family home shared with extended family on the husband's side, interference in terms of mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law making complaints about the wife, and the couple's differing expectations of the husband's responsibility for his extended family could cause tension and conflict that could lead to IPV. The husband's family could also have a positive effect by minimizing conflict through offering the couple personal time and helping the wife to adjust to her new family. The wife's family was perceived as having a much more passive role in terms of not interfering, but instead allowing her to adjust to her new extended family. In conclusion, the husband's extended family can have a considerable impact on conflict within couples. Public health prevention initiatives for IPV in Pakistani people should address the role of the husband's extended family. The findings of the study are not only important for the population studied, which is part of an international diaspora, but also for other communities worldwide that value close family structure due to cultural and religious preferences

Influences of extended family on intimate partner violence: perceptions of Pakistanis in Pakistan and the United Kingdom

Limited research has been undertaken on the role of extended family members in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). This study uniquely explores the perspective of Pakistani men and women about the role of a husband and wife's families in relation to marital conflict and IPV. For this qualitative study, data were collected through 41 individual interviews, including 20 from Pakistan and 21 from the United Kingdom. The findings are presented in four themes, including "privacy and personal space," "interference and instigation of problems," "conflicting and uncommunicated expectations," and "adjustment facilitation." A lack of privacy and personal space within a family home shared with extended family on the husband's side, interference in terms of mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law making complaints about the wife, and the couple's differing expectations of the husband's responsibility for his extended family could cause tension and conflict that could lead to IPV. The husband's family could also have a positive effect by minimizing conflict through offering the couple personal time and helping the wife to adjust to her new family. The wife's family was perceived as having a much more passive role in terms of not interfering, but instead allowing her to adjust to her new extended family. In conclusion, the husband's extended family can have a considerable impact on conflict within couples. Public health prevention initiatives for IPV in Pakistani people should address the role of the husband's extended family. The findings of the study are not only important for the population studied, which is part of an international diaspora, but also for other communities worldwide that value close family structure due to cultural and religious preferences

Plasmodium vivax myocarditis in a child

We report the first documented case of myocarditis associated with Plasmodium vivax malaria in a child who presented with features of cerebral malaria. Clinical features of shock developing in a patient of severe Plasmodium vivax malaria, especially with stable haematocrit, should be investigated by electrocardiogram and/ or cardiac enzymes and echocardiogarphy to rule out myocarditis

Clarivate listed nursing journals in 2020: what they publish and how they measure use of social media

Objectives To investigate what the most common types of articles that nursing journals purport to publish are and what they actually publish. And to investigate the extent to which academic nursing journals listed by Clarivate track alternative metrics. Methods Journals included in the nursing Journal Citation Report (JCR) journal category in 2019 described as nursing were identified and considered suitable for inclusion in the analysis. Instructions for authors were reviewed online and mention of each type of article is identified. The tables of contents of each issue of each journal published during 2019 were examined and the types of articles published were extracted to a spreadsheet into permitted article types and published articles. Likewise, the use of alternative metrics by each journal was extracted to a spreadsheet. Pearson's and Spearman's correlation analysis was applied to investigate the relationship between articles permitted and articles published. Results In the 2020 JCR, 123 journals were listed. The most common article type permitted was original research (n = 117), followed by review papers (n = 116), and discussion papers (n = 63). Original research (n = 7045); review papers (n = 1268); discussion papers (n = 1225); editorials (n = 793) and commentaries (n = 776) were the most commonly published categories of the article. Of journals examined, 108 (96.8%) tracked mentions on social media and the Altmetric score was most commonly used (75%). There was a strong correlation (r = 0.73; P = 0.002) between the numbers of articles permitted and published and a strong correlation (ρ = 0.86; P < 0.001) in terms of the rankings of the permitted and published articles. Conclusions There is a relationship between the most frequently permitted article types and those published, especially for the most frequent categories of both. Original articles, review papers, and discussion papers are the backbone of academic publishing in nursing with original articles vastly outweighing review and discussion papers. Most Clarivate listed journals now use some method of tracking alternative metrics indicating how seriously publishers take their social media profiles

Certification of Bounds of Non-linear Functions: the Templates Method

The aim of this work is to certify lower bounds for real-valued multivariate functions, defined by semialgebraic or transcendental expressions. The certificate must be, eventually, formally provable in a proof system such as Coq. The application range for such a tool is widespread; for instance Hales' proof of Kepler's conjecture yields thousands of inequalities. We introduce an approximation algorithm, which combines ideas of the max-plus basis method (in optimal control) and of the linear templates method developed by Manna et al. (in static analysis). This algorithm consists in bounding some of the constituents of the function by suprema of quadratic forms with a well chosen curvature. This leads to semialgebraic optimization problems, solved by sum-of-squares relaxations. Templates limit the blow up of these relaxations at the price of coarsening the approximation. We illustrate the efficiency of our framework with various examples from the literature and discuss the interfacing with Coq.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Corrections to the Saffman-Delbruck mobility for membrane bound proteins

Recent experiments by Y. Gambin et al. [PNAS 103, 2098 (2006)] have called into question the applicability of the Saffman-Delbruck diffusivity for proteins embedded in the lipid bilayers. We present a simple argument to account for this observation that should be generically valid for a large class of transmembrane and membrane bound proteins. Whenever the protein-lipid interactions locally deform the membrane, that deformation generates new hydrodynamic stresses on the protein-membrane complex leading to a suppression of its mobility. We show that this suppression depends on the protein size in a manner consistent with the work of Y. Gambin et al.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur