TIR-based dynamic liquid-level and flow-rate sensing and its application on centrifugal microfluidic platforms

For the first time we present a technique for the spatio-temporally resolved localization of liquid-gas interfaces on centrifugal microfluidic platforms based on total internal reflection (TIR) at the channel wall. The simple setup consists of a line laser and a linear image sensor array mounted in a stationary instrument. Apart from identifying the presence of (usually unwanted) gas bubbles, the here described online meniscus detection allows to measure liquid volumes with a high precision of 1.9%. Additionally, flow rates and viscosities (range: 1-10.7 mPa s) can be sensed even during rotation at frequencies up to 30 Hz with a precision of 4.7% and 4.3%, respectively

What\u27s in it for me? Perspectives from Community Participants in an Inter-professional Service Learning Program

Purpose: This study assessed Interdisciplinary Family Health (IFH) Program participants‘ perceived health outcomes associated with program participation at the University of Florida. Background: Service-learning has emerged as a dynamic way in which students derive practical skills to address the needs of their community. Research has probed student perspectives but has seldom explored community feedback. The Interdisciplinary Family Health Program (IFH) is a mandatory Interprofessional service learning experience designed to foster collaborative teamwork across first year health professions students at UF. Students are assigned in interprofessional teams of four to improve a local volunteer family’s health over the course of four visits in one academic year. Description of Research: Data from twenty-one semi-structured telephone interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed to assess participants’ perceived health outcomes using a grounded theory approach. Emergent themes were conceptualized via selective coding and peer-reviewing. Results: All program participants reported positive health outcomes within a social support construct. Responses fell into four social support domains within a greater framework of bridging student-participant generations: informational support, emotional support, companionship support, and tangible support. Trends in social support domains observed were associated with participant SES. Participants with lower SES levels reported greater needs for health information and access, whereas participants with higher SES levels desired building social relationships with students. Conclusions: Tailoring IPE training to address specific social support domains and SES associations is an opportunity for enhanced participant experiences and perceived health outcomes. Educational planning can utilize social support domain-SES association findings as a guide for students to attune their efforts at improving the overall health outcomes of their target population. Learning Objectives and Related Conference Objectives: Participants will be able to describe qualitative methods of evaluating perceived patient health outcomes in assessing the effectiveness of the Interdisciplinary Family Health Program (Conference Objective 1). Participants will be able to communicate research findings regarding social support domain-SES approaches for enhanced educational programming and perceived patient health outcomes (Conference Objective 3)

A one-compartment, direct glucose fuel cell for powering long-term medical implants

We present the operational concept, microfabrication, and electrical performance of an enzyme-less direct glucose fuel cell for harvesting the chemical energy of glucose from body fluids. The spatial concentrations of glucose and oxygen at the electrodes of the one-compartment setup are established by self-organization, governed by the balance of electro-chemical depletion and membrane diffusion. Compared to less stable enzymatic and immunogenic microbial fuel cells, this robust approach excels with an extended life time, the amenability to sterilization and biocompatibility, showing up a clear route towards an autonomous power supply for long-term medical implants without the need of surgical replacement and external refueling. Operating in physiological phosphate buffer solution containing 0.1 wt% glucose and having a geometrical cathode area of 10 cm2, our prototype already delivers 20 µ W peak power over a period of 7 days

Aliquoting structure for centrifugal microfluidics based on a new pneumatic valve

We present a new microvalve that can be monolithically integrated in centrifugally driven lab-on-a-chip systems. In contrast to existing operation principles that use hydrophobic patches, geometrically defined capillary stops or siphons, here we present a pneumatic principle. It needs neither additional local coatings nor expensive micro sized geometries. The valve is controlled by the spinning frequency and can be switched to be open when the centrifugal pressure overcomes the pneumatic pressure inside an unvented reaction cavity. We designed and characterized valves ranging in centrifugal burst pressure from 6700 Pa to 2100 Pa. Based on this valving principle we present a new structure for aliquoting of liquids. We experimentally demonstrated this by splitting 105 muL volumes into 16 aliquots with a volume CV of 3 %

Towards an Understanding of the Business Value of Business Process Standardization - A Case Study Approach

What is the business value of process standardization? Alongside the development of industrial engineering of information technology and of business process redesign studied by Davenport and Short (1990), and Davenport’s approach defining business processes (Davenport, 2005), other researchers offer initial insights into business process standardization research opportunities (Venkatesh, 2006). Based on this new thinking about business process standardization, this paper presents a step towards understanding the business value of business process standardization. A single case study with a global operating company was conducted to show how a successful standardized business process and a supporting information system can impact the process performance in terms of cost, time and quality. The process studied within the case study is the company-wide recruiting process. As the results indicate, the company has improved the overall process performance. The results provide an initial insight into an understanding of the business value of process standardization

Perceived Barriers Preventing and Treating HIV/AIDS among Public Health Workers in Florida

In 2015, Florida moved from being ranked second to first nationally in total number of HIV diagnoses. To combat this statistic, public health workers were interviewed to understand perceived perspectives about available resources and practicable solutions to barriers that may inhibit the use of testing and treatment services to reduce overall health disparities and inequalities among individuals with HIV/AIDS. Ten public health workers from rural counties in Florida were interviewed, and then qualitatively analyzed using the constant comparison method. Public health workers found that multiple barriers, lack of education and knowledge of resources available among health workers, and a need for continuing education on HIV/AIDS have an impact on how preventive services and treatment are carried out. Along with highlighting key issues among public health workers, in this paper, we hope to provide feasible solutions at a time where public health funding is decreasing

Healthy aims: developing new medical implants and diagnostic equipment

Healthy Aims is a €23-million, four-year project, funded under the EU’s Information Society Technology Sixth Framework program to develop intelligent medical implants and diagnostic systems (www.healthyaims.org). The project has 25 partners from 10 countries, including commercial, clinical, and research groups. This consortium represents a combination of disciplines to design and fabricate new medical devices and components as well as to test them in laboratories and subsequent clinical trials. The project focuses on medical implants for nerve stimulation and diagnostic equipment based on straingauge technology

Shells and Spheres: An n-Dimensional Framework for Medial-Based Image Segmentation

We have developed a method for extracting anatomical shape models from n-dimensional images using an image analysis framework we call Shells and Spheres. This framework utilizes a set of spherical operators centered at each image pixel, grown to reach, but not cross, the nearest object boundary by incorporating “shells” of pixel intensity values while analyzing intensity mean, variance, and first-order moment. Pairs of spheres on opposite sides of putative boundaries are then analyzed to determine boundary reflectance which is used to further constrain sphere size, establishing a consensus as to boundary location. The centers of a subset of spheres identified as medial (touching at least two boundaries) are connected to identify the interior of a particular anatomical structure. For the automated 3D algorithm, the only manual interaction consists of tracing a single contour on a 2D slice to optimize parameters, and identifying an initial point within the target structure