General Material Designations in the Twenty-First Century: Results of a Survey by Jean Weihs

Research results of the OLAC Research Grant awarded in 2000

Dinâmica da fronteira agrícola do Mato Grosso e implicações para a saúde

As transformações mais profundas nos ecossistemas amazônicos foram produzidas pela expansão da fronteira agrícola. No norte de Mato Grosso, esse fenômeno contribuiu com a derrubada e queima de mais de 50% da floresta nativa. Os ecossistemas aquáticos foram contaminados com agrotóxicos e mercúrio. Objetivamos compreender como se comportou a saúde da população local em função dessas alterações ambientais. Trata-se de um estudo de caso, fundamentado pelos pilares da ecossaúde: transdisciplinaridade, participação social e equidade de gênero. Os resultados sugerem que, na fronteira agrícola amazônica de Mato Grosso, a degradação e a contaminação dos ecossistemas estão relacionadas à emergência de novas doenças. A crescente abertura da fronteira ao mercado global consolida a geração de riscos industriais, contribuindo com o aumento da incidência de doenças cronico degenerativas.In the Brazilian Amazonia, the most profound transformations of the ecosystems were produced by the expansion of the agricultural frontier. In the northern state of Mato Grosso, this phenomenon produced deforestation and the burning of more than 50% of the native forest. Aquatic ecosystems have been contaminated with pesticides and mercury. We aim to understand how people's health was affected by these environmental changes. To this end, we developed a case study based on key pillars of ecohealth: transdisciplinarity, social participation and gender equality. The results suggest that in the Amazonian agricultural frontier of Mato Grosso, the degradation and contamination of ecosystems are related to the emergence of new diseases. The increasing openness of the agricultural frontier to the global market consolidates the creation of industrial risks, contributing to the increased incidence of chronic degenerative diseases

Interfacial Chemistry in Al/CuO Reactive Nanomaterial and Its Role in Exothermic Reaction.

Interface layers between reactive and energetic materials in nanolaminates or nanoenergetic materials are believed to play a crucial role in the properties of nanoenergetic systems. Typically, in the case of Metastable Interstitial Composite nanolaminates, the interface layer between the metal and oxide controls the onset reaction temperature, reaction kinetics, and stability at low temperature. So far, the formation of these interfacial layers is not well understood for lack of in situ characterization, leading to a poor control of important properties. We have combined in situ infrared spectroscopy and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, in conjunction with firstprinciples calculations to identify the stable configurations that can occur at the interface and determine the kinetic barriers for their formation. We find that (i) an interface layer formed during physical deposition of aluminum is composed of a mixture of Cu, O, and Al through Al penetration into CuO and constitutes a poor diffusion barrier (i.e., with spurious exothermic reactions at lower temperature), and in contrast, (ii) atomic layer deposition (ALD) of alumina layers using trimethylaluminum (TMA)produces a conformal coating that effectively prevents Al diffusion even for ultrathin layer thicknesses (∼0.5 nm), resulting in better stability at low temperature and reduced reactivity. Importantly, the initial reaction of TMA with CuO leads to the extraction of oxygen from CuO to form an amorphous interfacial layer that is an important component for superior protection properties of the interface and is responsible for the high system stability. Thus, while Al e-beam evaporation and ALD growth of an alumina layer on CuO both lead to CuO reduction, the mechanism for oxygen removal is different, directly affecting the resistance to Al diffusion. This work reveals that it is the nature of the monolayer interface between CuO and alumina/Al rather than the thickness of the alumina layer that controls the kinetics of Al diffusion, underscoring the importance of the chemical bonding at the interface in these energetic materials

Reduced costs with bisoprolol treatment for heart failure - An economic analysis of the second Cardiac Insufficiency Bisoprolol Study (CIBIS-II)

Background Beta-blockers, used as an adjunctive to diuretics, digoxin and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, improve survival in chronic heart failure. We report a prospectively planned economic analysis of the cost of adjunctive beta-blocker therapy in the second Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study (CIBIS II). Methods Resource utilization data (drug therapy, number of hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, ward type) were collected prospectively in all patients in CIBIS . These data were used to determine the additional direct costs incurred, and savings made, with bisoprolol therapy. As well as the cost of the drug, additional costs related to bisoprolol therapy were added to cover the supervision of treatment initiation and titration (four outpatient clinic/office visits). Per them (hospital bed day) costings were carried out for France, Germany and the U.K. Diagnosis related group costings were performed for France and the U.K. Our analyses took the perspective of a third party payer in France and Germany and the National Health Service in the U.K. Results Overall, fewer patients were hospitalized in the bisoprolol group, there were fewer hospital admissions perpatient hospitalized, fewer hospital admissions overall, fewer days spent in hospital and fewer days spent in the most expensive type of ward. As a consequence the cost of care in the bisoprolol group was 5-10% less in all three countries, in the per them analysis, even taking into account the cost of bisoprolol and the extra initiation/up-titration visits. The cost per patient treated in the placebo and bisoprolol groups was FF35 009 vs FF31 762 in France, DM11 563 vs DM10 784 in Germany and pound 4987 vs pound 4722 in the U.K. The diagnosis related group analysis gave similar results. Interpretation Not only did bisoprolol increase survival and reduce hospital admissions in CIBIS II, it also cut the cost of care in so doing. This `win-win' situation of positive health benefits associated with cost savings is Favourable from the point of view of both the patient and health care systems. These findings add further support for the use of beta-blockers in chronic heart failure

Introduction to technical services : eighth edition

This edition is 500 printed pages and reflects the dramatic changes that have transformed technical services over the past 40-plus years. The whats, hows, and wheres related to technical service activities bear only the broadest correlation with the activities of the 1970s.xv, 462 p.: ill.; 26 c

Metadata and its impact on libraries

Metadata is probably the aspect of electronic data archiving about which there is the greatest number of article, the most workshops, and the largest community of researcher.v, 262 p.: ill.; 27 c

Metadata and its impact on libraries

Westportv, 262 p.: illus.; tab.; 25 cm