An eco-solution for track & trace of goods and third party logistics

This paper presents a new economic cost-effective solution known as the Web and telephony based method for tracking and tracing of goods and small and medium sized third party logistic providers. Considering that these companies usually operate on very flat margins, a comparison is made of the available track and trace technologies like GPS, mobile phone approximated GPS and Java based cell tracking in terms of costs, operating risks, and other evaluation criteria

Targeted Subsidy for Malaria Control With Treated Nets Using a Discount Voucher System in Tanzania.

During the last decade insecticide-treated nets have become a key strategy for malaria control. Social marketing is an appealing tool for getting such nets to poor rural African communities who are most afflicted by malaria. This approach usually involves subsidized prices to make nets and insecticide more affordable and help establish a commercial market. We evaluated a voucher system for targeted subsidy of treated nets in young children and pregnant women in two rural districts of southern Tanzania. Qualitative work involved focus group discussions with community leaders, male and female parents of children under 5 years. In-depth interviews were held with maternal and child health clinic staff and retail agents. Quantitative data were collected through interviewing more than 750 mothers of children under 5 years during a cluster sample survey of child health. The voucher return rate was extremely high at 97% (7720/8000). However, 2 years after the start of the scheme awareness among target groups was only 43% (45/104), and only 12% of women (12/103; 95% CI 4-48%) had used a voucher towards the cost of a net. We found some evidence of increased voucher use among least poor households, compared with the poorest households. On the basis of these results we renewed our information, education and communication (IEC) campaign about vouchers. Discount vouchers are a feasible system for targeted subsidies, although a substantial amount of time and effort may be needed to achieve high awareness and uptake - by which we mean the proportion of eligible women who used the vouchers - among those targeted. Within a poor society, vouchers may not necessarily increase health equity unless they cover a high proportion of the total cost: since some cash is needed when using a voucher as part-payment, poorer women among the target group are likely to have lower uptake than richer women. The vouchers have two important additional functions: strengthening the role of public health services in the context of a social marketing programme and forming an IEC tool to demonstrate the group at most risk of severe malaria

Survey of thermodynamic properties of the compounds of the elements CHNOPS Sixth preliminary report, 1 Oct. - 31 Dec. 1965

Heat capacity data on polyhydroxy compounds, water, carbon dioxide, and ammonia and vapor pressure data on methane, ammonia, and amino acid

A survey of thermodynamic properties of the compounds of the elements CHNOPS Fifth preliminary report, 1 Jul. - 30 Sep. 1965

Literature survey of heat capacity, enthalpy, and entropy properties of ammonia, carbon dioxide, and wate

Test of cure and beyond:superiority of thermal ablation over LLETZ in the treatment of high-grade CIN

PURPOSE: Among the treatment modalities for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), large-loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) is the commonest offered in the UK, whereas thermal ablation (TA) has not been common in several decades, despite several notable advantages. TA and LLETZ are both routinely undertaken in our colposcopy unit, and extensive follow-up data have been used to interrogate outcomes between the two modalities and determine whether one modality may be preferred over the other. METHODS: Up to 8 years of follow-up data (cytology and histology) were collected for patients who have undergone LLETZ or TA and failed post-treatment test of cure (ToC). These data were analysed and used to plot Kaplan–Meier survival curves, in order to compare outcomes: negative cytology, dyskaryosis, low- and high-grade CIN and invasive squamous cell carcinoma. RESULTS: i) Very few women treated with TA developed recurrent high-grade CIN in the follow-up period; (ii) LLETZ-treated women had a significantly higher rate of recurrence than those treated by TA; (iii) women who failed both virology and cytology components of post-treatment ToC had higher recurrence than those who failed only one, and the rate of recurrence was highest in those treated by LLETZ (> 65%). CONCLUSION: TA is an effective treatment of high-grade CIN, with a high chance of achieving double-negative ToC and low recurrence relative to LLETZ. We recommend the wider adoption of TA, so that young women of reproductive age have a choice of treatment with no reported adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes

Flexible copper-indium-diselenide films and devices for space applications

With the ever increasing demands on space power systems, it is imperative that low cost, lightweight, reliable photovoltaics be developed. One avenue of pursuit for future space power applications is the use of low cost, lightweight flexible PV cells and arrays. Most work in this area assumes the use of flexible amorphous silicon (a-Si), despite its inherent instability and low efficiencies. However, polycrystalline thin film PV such as copper-indium-diselenide (CIS) are inherently more stable and exhibit better performance than a-Si. Furthermore, preliminary data indicate that CIS also offers exciting properties with respect to space applications. However, CIS has only heretofore only produced on rigid substrates. The implications of flexible CIS upon present and future space power platforms was explored. Results indicate that space qualified CIS can dramatically reduce the cost of PV, and in most cases, can be substituted for silicon (Si) based on end-of-life (EOL) estimations. Furthermore, where cost is a prime consideration, CIS can become cost effective than gallium arsenide (GaAs) in some applications. Second, investigations into thin film deposition on flexible substrates were made, and data from these tests indicate that fabrication of flexible CIS devices is feasible. Finally, data is also presented on preliminary TCO/CdS/CuInSe2/Mo devices

The utility of B-type natriuretic peptide in predicting postoperative cardiac events and mortality in patients undergoing major emergency non-cardiac surgery

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels predict cardiovascular risk in several settings. We hypothesized that they would identify individuals at increased risk of complications and mortality following major emergency non-cardiac surgery.Forty patients were studied with a primary end-point of a new post-operative cardiac event, and/or development of significant ECG changes, and/or cardiac death. The main secondary outcome was all cause mortality at 6 months. Preoperative BNP levels were higher in 11 patients who suffered a new postoperative cardiac event (p=0.001) and predicted this outcome with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85 (CI=0.72-0.98,p=0.001). A pre-operative BNP value >170pg.ml-1 has a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 79% for the primary end-point. In this small study, pre-operative BNP levels identify patients undergoing major emergency non-cardiac surgery who are at increased risk of early post-operative cardiac events. Larger studies are required to confirm these data.Peer reviewedPreprin

Thermodynamics of Dipolar Chain Systems

The thermodynamics of a quantum system of layers containing perpendicularly oriented dipolar molecules is studied within an oscillator approximation for both bosonic and fermionic species. The system is assumed to be built from chains with one molecule in each layer. We consider the effects of the intralayer repulsion and quantum statistical requirements in systems with more than one chain. Specifically, we consider the case of two chains and solve the problem analytically within the harmonic Hamiltonian approach which is accurate for large dipole moments. The case of three chains is calculated numerically. Our findings indicate that thermodynamic observables, such as the heat capacity, can be used to probe the signatures of the intralayer interaction between chains. This should be relevant for near future experiments on polar molecules with strong dipole moments.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, final versio