Design and fabrication considerations, numerical modelling, and testing of a MEMS Microgripper

Microgrippers play an important role in the manipulation of biological cells and tissues. This paper presents a horizontal electrothermally actuated microgripper that is designed for the handling and deformability characterization of human red blood cells (RBCs). Pathological alterations in the mechanical properties of RBCs have been associated with a number of specific diseases. This has accentuated the significance of analysing the deformability characteristics of RBCs within the biomedical field. A polysilicon microgripper structure was designed and fabricated according to the dimensional specifications imposed by the commercial PolyMUMPsTM fabrication process. The microgripper design was developed and numerically modelled using finite element analysis where coupled electrothermomechanical simulations were carried out in CoventorWare®. The fabrication method is presented in this paper, together with details of the experimental set-up used for the actuation testing. The tip displacement of the microgripper arm when electrothermally actuated is compared with that obtained by means of numerical simulations. Results show that the microgripper arm deflected as designed when electrothermally actuated, with good agreement obtained between simulation and experimental results. This paper also proposes critical design and fabrication considerations that were implied from the experimental campaign performed in this work and that take into account out-of-plane buckling of the hot arm, fracture of the arms in the vicinity of the anchored probe pads, residual stresses, and device stiction. Such considerations are regarded as an important outcome of this work, and they must be thoroughly investigated to mitigate the malfunction or failure of the microgripper.peer-reviewe

Application of Argonne's Glass Furnace Model to Longhor Glass Corporation Oxy-Fuel Furnace for the Production of Amber Glass.

The objective of this project is to apply the Argonne National Laboratory's Glass Furnace Model (GFM) to the Longhorn oxy-fuel furnace to improve energy efficiency and to investigate the transport of gases released from the batch/melt into the exhaust. The model will make preliminary estimates of the local concentrations of water, carbon dioxide, elemental oxygen, and other subspecies in the entire combustion space as well as the concentration of these species in the furnace exhaust gas. This information, along with the computed temperature distribution in the combustion space may give indications on possible locations of crown corrosion. An investigation into the optimization of the furnace will be performed by varying several key parameters such as the burner firing pattern, exhaust number/size, and the boost usage (amount and distribution). Results from these parametric studies will be analyzed to determine more efficient methods of operating the furnace that reduce crown corrosion. Finally, computed results from the GFM will be qualitatively correlated to measured values, thus augmenting the validation of the GFM

Promoting reuse behaviour: Challenges and strategies for repeat purchase, low-involvement products

Reusable products offer reduced environmental impact compared to recycling, but producers mostly focus on strategies such as light-weighting, recyclability and eco-labelling. A reasonable number of innovative reusable products and business models exist for repeat purchase, low-involvement products, but they are largely restricted to niche health-food stores. Therefore, this research primarily attempts to understand consumer attitudes and behaviour towards reuse of household care products (e.g. air fresheners, domestic cleaning products). Focus groups with UK consumers are utilised to examine reusable/refillable spray products and the data are triangulated with global archival data on various refill business models, reusable products and recycling initiatives. The study offers useful guidelines for both producers and policy makers to encourage reusable products. First, we recommend that eco-innovations have a familiar design congruent with well-known brands, to reduce uncertainties for consumers. Second, if the innovation has an unfamiliar design, to mitigate, producers should offer new functional benefits. Third, and most important, producers must place greater emphasis on aesthetic aspects that could evoke product attachment, thus encouraging reuse. Fourth, if reusable products are to become mainstream, ‘well-known brands’ have to promote the transition from one-off sales to a service model built on durable products. Finally, a successful outcome is dependent on government interventions in designing new life cycle policy instruments, in particular de-marketing the current recycling norm and emphasising reusing over recycling

Canadian report card on health equity across the life-course:Analysis of time trends and cross-national comparisons with the United Kingdom

Addressing social determinants of health (SDoH) has been acknowledged as an essential objective for the promotion of both population health and health equity. Extant literature has identified seven potential areas of investment to address SDoH: investments in sexual and reproductive health and family planning, early learning and child care, education, universal health care, as well as investments to reduce child poverty, ensure sustainable economic development, and control health hazards. The aim of this paper is to produce a ‘report card’ on Canada’s success in reducing socioeconomic and health inequities pertaining to these seven policy domains, and to assess how Canadian trends compare to those in the United Kingdom (UK), a country with a similar health and welfare system. Summarising evidence from published studies and national statistics, we found that Canada’s best successes were in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in early learning and child care and reproductive health—specifically in improving equity in maternal employment and infant mortality. Comparative data suggest that Canada’s outcomes in the latter areas were like those in the UK. In contrast, Canada’s least promising equity outcomes were in relation to health hazard control (specifically, tobacco) and child poverty. Though Canada and the UK observed similar inequities in smoking, Canada’s slow upward trend in child poverty prevalence is distinct from the UK’s small but steady reduction of child poverty. This divergence from the UK’s trends indicates that alternative investment types and levels may be needed in Canada to achieve similar outcomes to those in the UK. Keywords: Canada, United Kingdom, Health equity, Health and social policy, Lifecourse epidemiology, Public healt

Effectiveness of waste minimisation projects in reducing water demand by UK industry

There is growing interest in managing water demand in the UK. A series of waste minimization clubs have been set up within the country and this paper identifies the effectiveness of these clubs in reducing the demand for water within industry. Membership of these clubs is voluntary and the only incentive for industry to reduce water consumption, and consequently the production of effluent, is the almost immediate financial saving made by the company, often achieved by accounting for the water consumption and loss within site from the point of input from the water supplier to output in the form of effluent. On average, companies are able to reduce water consumption by up to 30 percent. If the entire industrial sector within the UK were to achieve this degree of savings, it is possible that approximately 1300Ml/d could be saved