Wettability control on microstructured polypropylene surfaces by means of O2 plasma

Durable and wear resistant polypropylene surfaces with static contact angle (SCA) above 140° have been fabricated using standard photolithographic process and O2 plasma etching followed by thermal annealing at 100 °C. This microfabrication process leads to a hierarchical topography derived from the patterned microstructures and the sub‐micron roughness caused by plasma. Hydrophobicity (SCA up to 145°) remained over 14 months after fabrication. This wetting behavior is attributed to the combination of the periodic array of micro‐sized pillars with low aspect‐ratio and the submicron roughness caused by O2 plasma

Molecular organization of the tear fluid lipid layer

The tear fluid protects the corneal epithelium from drying out as well as from invasion by pathogens. It also provides cell nutrients. Similarly to lung surfactant, it is composed of an aqueous phase covered by a lipid layer. Here we describe the molecular organization of the anterior lipid layer of the tear film. Artificial tear fluid lipid layers (ATFLLs) composed of egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (60 mol %), free fatty acids (20 mol %), cholesteryl oleate (10 mol %), and triglycerides (10 mol %) were deposited on the air-water interface and their physico-chemical behavior was compared to egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine monolayers by using Langmuir-film balance techniques, x-ray diffraction, and imaging techniques as well as in silico molecular level simulations. At low surface pressures, ATFLLs were organized at the air-water interface as heterogeneous monomolecular films. Upon compression the ATFLLs collapsed toward the air phase and formed hemispherelike lipid aggregates. This transition was reversible upon relaxation. These results were confirmed by molecular-level simulations of ATFLL, which further provided molecular-scale insight into the molecular distributions inside and dynamics of the tear film. Similar type of behavior is observed in lung surfactant but the folding takes place toward the aqueous phase. The results provide novel information of the function of lipids in the tear fluid

"Opastava tuki olisi hyvä terveyden hoidossa" : Toiveita ja odotuksia ikäneuvolan perustamiseen

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksen oli kartoittaa yli 65 – vuotiaiden Petäjäveden asukkaiden toiveita ja odotuksia ikäneuvolan perustamisen suhteen sekä saada tietoa ikäneuvolan sisältötarpeista, jotka vastaisivat heidän tarpeitaan terveyden edistämisen osalta. Tutkimusaineistona oli kaikki Petäjäveden yli 65 – vuotiaat, joista satunnaisotannalla valittiin 300:n otanta. Heille lähetettiin kyselylomake, joka analysoitiin kvantitatiivisin menetelmin SPSS -tilasto-ohjelmalla. Vanhuspalvelulaki, terveyden edistämisen laatusuositukset ja kansalliset terveysohjelmat olivat tässä tutkimuksessa ikäneuvolatyön suunnittelun lähtökohtana. Ne painottavat ikäihmisten omaa vaikuttamismahdollisuutta palveluihin, ennaltaehkäisevää toimintaa terveyden edistämiseksi, toimintakyvyn ylläpitämistä ja mahdollisimman pitkään kotona asumisen tukemista sekä terveyden edistämisen näkökulmaa kunnallisessa päätöksenteossa. Tutkimuksessa nousi keskeisiksi tuloksiksi säännöllisten terveystarkastusten ja muistihoitajan vastaanoton tarpeellisuus sekä yli 85 – vuotiaiden tarve liikuntapalvelujen lisäämiseen. Terveyden kannalta ongelmallisimpana koettiin toimintakyvyn laskun ongelmallisuus, arjen sujuvuuden ja avun saamisen vaikeus sekä miesten kokemus parisuhteen ja seksuaalisuuden ongelmallisuudesta. Vastaajien koettu terveydentila oli 70 %:n mielestä melko hyvä tai keskitasoinen. Huonoksi terveytensä kokevat eivät aio osallistua ikäneuvolan palveluihin. Lisäpalveluja halusi 80 % vastaajista ja ikäneuvola sopisi tällaiseksi lisäpalveluksi. Voimavaralähtöisyys oli vastaajien mielestä ikäneuvolatyön painopistealue. Ennaltaehkäisevä työ ja voimavaralähtöinen lähestymistapa sopivat hyvin yhteen lainsäädännön, laatusuositusten ja terveysohjelmien sisältötavoitteiden kanssa ja ikäneuvolatoiminta voisi hyvin vastata näihin tarpeisiin Petäjävedellä. Lisätutkimusaiheena koetun terveydentilan tarkempi selvittäminen antaisi tietoa, millainen tuki nostaisi sen mahdollisimman hyvälle tasolle. Myös voimaantumisen tutkiminen olisi mielenkiintoista ja kustannustehokasta, koska voimaantunut yksilö säästää henkilökunnan voimavaroja ja resursseja huolehtimalla mahdollisimman pitkälle itse omasta terveydestään.The purpose of this survey was to gather information about wishes and expectations for the Senior Clinic among the Petäjävesi people over 65 years. In addition to this, the main problems were charted to improve their health care in future. This survey was quantitative survey and it was executed by questionnaire to the seniors who were chosen with random sample. Results were analyzed by SPSS-statistic programme and it produces information in frequencies, percents and cross tabulations. The theoretical section explores the legislation and quality recommendations for elderly people. In addition to this, the essential concepts in this survey are health, health promotion and empowerment. The main results were that respondents` experienced health was quite good or average. A total of 80 percent of respondents would have liked to get involved with regularly physical examinations. More than 50 percent of respondents would have liked to get memory nurse practices. The oldest respondents, 85 to 95 years old, would have liked to get more physical exercises to maintain their functional capacity. The main health problems were in feelings of insecurity and in functional capacity, fluency in the daily routines and how to get help if they need it continuously. The findings indicate that Senior Clinic would be able to offer preventative care. Furthermore, focusing in empowerment is consistent with legislation and quality recommendations for older people

High temperature x-ray scattering studies of atomic layer deposited IrO2

IrO2 is an important material in numerous applications ranging from catalysis to the microelectronics industry, but despite this its behaviour upon annealing under different conditions has not yet been thoroughly studied. This work provides a detailed investigation of the annealing of IrO2 thin films using in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity (HTXRR) measurements from room temperature up to 1000 degrees C in oxygen, nitrogen, forming gas and vacuum. Complementary ex situ scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements were conducted. The combined data show the dependencies of crystalline properties and surface morphology on the annealing temperature and atmosphere. The reduction of IrO2 to Ir takes place at a temperature as low as 150 degrees C in forming gas, but in oxygen IrO2 is stable up to 800 degrees C and evaporates as a volatile oxide at higher temperatures. The IrO2 crystallite size remains constant in oxygen up to 400 degrees C and increases above that, while in the more reducing atmospheres the Ir crystallites grow continuously above the phase-change temperature. The role of HTXRR in the analysis is shown to be important since its high sensitivity allows one to observe changes taking place in the film at temperatures much below the phase change.Peer reviewe

Studies on atomic layer deposition of IRMOF-8 thin films

Deposition of IRMOF-8 thin films by atomic layer deposition was studied at 260–320 C. Zinc acetate and 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid were used as the precursors. The as-deposited amorphous films were crystallized in 70% relative humidity at room temperature resulting in an unknown phase with a large unit cell. An autoclave with dimethylformamide as the solvent was used to recrystallize the films into IRMOF-8 as confirmed by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The films were further characterized by high temperature x-ray diffraction (HTXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (TOF-ERDA), nanoindentation, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. HTXRD measurements revealed similar behavior to bulk IRMOF-8. According to TOFERDA and FTIR, composition of the films was similar to IRMOF-8. Through-porosity was confirmed by loading the films with palladium using Pd(thd)2 (thd ¼ 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3, 5-heptanedionato) as the precursor.peerReviewe