Design of a signal scavenging sensor system for passive monitoring in elder care technology

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Aug. 18, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Harry W Tyrer.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.This thesis describes sensors designed for a non-obtrusive monitoring system to detect and track the elderly adults walking on the carpet. The sensors are thin metal foils which detect environmental or scavenged energy. The technology aims at addressing the concerns of safety for the elderly under no supervision and without wearable-expensive-tracking devices. Eldercare technology provides support for the growing number of seniors in the world population. Emerging technologies are expected to ameliorate the problems of aging such as loss of balance and falls, causing a potentially serious injury. The thesis investigates the variation in the power of the signal from the foil sensor after being touched or stepped utilized for sensing and detection applications. Characterization of the scavenged signal shows the dominance of the nuisance 60Hz energy. Change in the foil sensors dimensions and thickness showed significant variation in the signal detected. Sensor performance measures are made using a development board. Results show that foil sensors are reliable for detecting personnel and for tracking a movement. Thus, the foil sensors, through scavenged signals, can be utilized for passive monitoring.Includes bibliographical references

Digitized Engineering Notebook

Digitized Engineering Notebook is a Website Application which allows users to perform same functionalities as a Paper Notebook in real-time such as, storing data in digital format where images, videos, animations can be inserted, and also retrieving the data in chronological way topic wise from the database. User can access the data from any part of the world through cloud technology that can be shared among the people easily. One can create and edit projects online directly inside the website and discuss about the projects through discussion board forums. Here data will be safe and reliable as it is stored in different places. Project will be highly safe and secure as admin can implement access rights to it. Digitized Engineering Notebook Main Page includes tabs like Menu, Site Administration console, Creation of New Projects, List of existing projects, Table of Contents, and Media page. Some important features of this application are User Login, HTML to pdf conversion, uploading Function, Search Bar navigation

Culture of mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) in polyculture with carps: experience from a field trial in Bangladesh

Studies were carried out during May 1997 to January 1998 in Kishoregani district in Bangladesh to investigate the production potential of carp polyculture in combination with Amblypharyngodon mola in seasonal ponds. The preliminary results indicate that A. mola can be successfully cultured in small seasonal ponds in polyculture with carp. This practice can result in an increase in the households' consumption of small fish which have a very high content of calcium, iron and vitamin A. In addition to the nutritional benefits, it can also provide additional income through sale of carp and surplus small fish

Trends in Use of Referral Hospital Services for Care of Sick Newborns in a Community-based Intervention in Tangail District, Bangladesh

The Projahnmo-II Project in Mirzapur upazila (sub-district), Tangail district, Bangladesh, is promot\uading care-seeking for sick newborns through health education of families, identification and referral of sick newborns in the community by community health workers (CHWs), and strengthening of neo\uadnatal care in Kumudini Hospital, Mirzapur. Data were drawn from records maintained by the CHWs, referral hospital registers, a baseline household survey of recently-delivered women conducted from March to June 2003, and two interim household surveys in January and September 2005. Increases were observed in self-referral of sick newborns for care, compliance after referral by the CHWs, and care-seeking from qualified providers and from the Kumudini Hospital, and decreases were observed in care-seeking from unqualified providers in the intervention arm. An active surveillance for illness by the CHWs in the home, education of families by them on recognition of danger signs and counsel\uadling to seek immediate care for serious illness, and improved linkages between the community and the hospital can produce substantial increases in care-seeking for sick newborns

A numerical study of mixed and forced convection in a vertical packed tube and a packed channel

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1992.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-179)Microfiche.xxii, 179 leaves, bound ill. 29 cmA detailed numerical investigation has been performed for forced and mixed convection in a vertical channel and a cylindrical tube filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium, with particular emphasis on the developing region. The uniform wall temperature boundary condition has been assumed. The full momentum equations derived by Hsu and Cheng have been used, which accounts for variable porosity and permeability as well as viscous and inertia effects. A modification has been proposed to the dispersion conductivity model given by Hsu and Cheng, to take into account the ratio of the particle diameter to the characteristic length of the problem. An expression that accounts for the variation of porosity in the streamwise and cross-stream directions has been introduced to take into account the variation of porosity near the walls, entrance and the exit sections. The empirical constants N, C1 and φa, in the porosity function, and the Ergun constants A and B, in the permeability expression, have been determined by a comparison of the numerical and observed data for the pressure drop in a packed tube. The predicted hydrodynamic entrance length has been found to be 10 to 20 particle diameters long for 0.024 ≤ γ ≤ 0.097 and 1 ≤ ReD ≤ 10^3 (where γ is the ratio of the particle to the tube diameter and Red is the Reynolds number based on the particle diameter, dp) , with the shorter length corresponding to the smaller particle size. For all practical purpose the entrance length can be considered to be about the size of the diameter of the tube (or the plate separation distance). The empirical constants Cd and CJ)in the proposed dispersion model have been determined by comparing the predicted and observed heat flux data. The proposed porosity function with the present dispersion model have been found to predict the observed heat flux data of the air/glass sphere system to within 10% for 0.06 ≤ γ ≤ 0.12 and 10^3 ≤ Red≤2 x 10^4 (where ReD is the Reynolds number based on the tube diameter, D) for the packed tube. For the air/chrome steel sphere system (γ = 0.12 and 0.14, 10^3 ≤ ReD ≤ 2 x 104) the agreement was within 19%. The higher error in this case has been attributed to the large difference between the thermal conductivities of air and chrome steel, in which case the thermal equilibrium assumption invoked in the derivation of the energy equation may not be applicable. For the packed channel geometry (γ=0.06 and 0.12 for the Freon/glass sphere system and γ =0.125 for the 3 4 Freon/chrome steel sphere system, 2 x 10 ≤ ReD ≤ 2 x 10^4) the agreement between the observed and calculated heat flux was within 20%, the discrepancy being due to improper experimentation and variable property effects of the fluid next to the heated surface which was not taken into account in the numerical simulation. The volume averaged method that is used to derive the governing equations has been found to be applicable to problems in which γ≤0.15. The effect of using a fluid with a higher Prandlt number or a solid with a larger thermal conductivity has been observed to enhance heat transfer at high and low flow rates respectively. The exact values of the Reynolds number at which the above mentioned enhancement takes place was found to be dependent on the Prandlt number of the saturating fluid. Finally, it has been predicted in this study that the buoyancy force would play an important role in the heat transfer process for the air/glass sphere system with γ =0.06, if GrD/ReD > 9 x 10^5 for the packed tube and GrH/ReH > 9 x 10^4 for the packed channel configuration

Purification and properties of α-amino-ϵ-caprolactam racemase from Achromobacter obae

AbstractWe have purified a unique enzyme, α-amino-ϵ-caprolactam racemase 945-fold from an extract of Achromobacter obae by Octyl—Sepharose CL-4B and Thiopropyl—Sepharose 6B and some other chromatographies. The purified enzyme was found homogeneous by sodium dodecyl sulfate—polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analytical ultracentrifugation. The enzyme has a monomeric structure with Mr ∼ 50 000 and a sedimentation coefficient (s20,w) of 4.28 S. The enzyme contains pyridoxal 5'-phosphate as a coenzyme. The pH optimum for the enzyme activity is ∼9.0. D- and L-α-amino-ϵ-caprolactams are the only substrates. The Km values for the D- and L-isomers are, 8 and 6 mM, respectively