HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG NURSING HOME RESIDENTS IN WESTERN CANADA

Background: The percentage of young adults (age 18-64) residing in nursing homes (NHs) has been increasing over the past decade. Yet, little is known about who they are, why they reside in NHs, and how their quality of life/ health-related quality of life are affected. Methods: This is a three-paper dissertation. The first study is a scoping review seeking to understand younger NH residents’ lived experiences, needs, and quality of life. The second paper is a secondary analysis using the Canada Minimum Data Set to describe and compare the individual characteristics between younger and older NH residents. The third study is another secondary data analysis using the Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) dataset. The ANCOVA analysis and case-control propensity score matching were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study comparing the Health-Related Quality of Life between younger and older NH residents. Covariates were also examined.Results: The study’s key review findings cover five themes: (1) Confinement, (2) Lack of socialization, (3) Lack of privacy, (4) Lack of appropriate settings, and (5) Loss of identity as well as results of quality of life. In the secondary analyses, individual characteristics, facility characteristics and the mean score of HRQoL were examined for differences with age. Younger NH residents had a higher chance of being male, single, more obese, more depressed, had a higher prevalence of depression, cerebral vascular accidents, hemi- or quadriplegia, required more assistance in ADLs, and had better HRQoL than older residents. Moreover, younger NH residents were reported to reside mainly in the large (> 120 beds) and voluntary sectors of Alberta and had higher mean HRQoL score than older NH residents. Conclusions: This study contributed to a better comprehension of younger NH residents’ lived experiences, needs, and quality of life, as well as how their individual characteristics differed from older residents. These findings can offer useful information to policymakers, providers, and researchers to guide them in developing tailored policies, programs, and interventions. Finally, the findings provided a baseline estimate as researchers continue to track the growth of and changes in populations served in NHs.Doctor of Philosoph

Growth of intermetallic compounds in the Sn-9Zn/Cu joint

We have studied the microstructure of the Sn-9Zn/Cu joint in soldering at temperatures ranging from 230 degrees C to 270 degrees C to understand the growth of the mechanism of intermetallic compound (IMC) formation. At the interface between the Sn-9Zn solder and Cu, the results show a scallop-type epsilon-CuZn4 and a layer-type gamma-Cu5Zn8, which grow at the interface between the Sn-9Zn solder and Cu. The activation energy of scallop-type epsilon-CuZn4 is 31 kJ/mol, and the growth is controlled by ripening. The activation energy of layer-type gamma-Cu5Zn8 is 26 kJ/mol, and the growth is controlled by the diffusion of Cu and Zn. Furthermore, in the molten Sn-9Zn solder, the results show eta-CuZn grains formed in the molten Sn-9Zn solder at 230 degrees C. When the soldering temperature increases to 250 degrees C and 270 degrees C, the phase of IMCs is epsilon-CuZn4

Micellization and morphological characterization of Ag-micelles prepared by poly(vinyl acetate)-silver nitrate in solvent/nonsolvent system

The inducing method for preparing Ag-micelle solution with the use of mixed solvent/nonsolvent, and the morphological characterization of the generated metal-micelles were investigated and reported in this paper. In this method, an Ag containing metal chelate polymer (MCP) raw solution was preprepared by dissolving poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc)-silver nitrate (AgNO3) MCP in cone. formic acid, and a mixed solvent of HCOOH/H2O with specific water composition was then added to induce the micellization of the MCP chain. The critical water concentration (CWC) that was needed for inducing the formation of the Ag-micelles, and the water concentration at which the flocculation of the Ag-micelles occurred in micellar solution, were studied by measuring the transmittance of the dilute MCP solution; the results showed that a long-lasting MCP solution with stable micelles might be prepared by using a H2O/ HCOOH solvent of specific weight ratio 1:1.2. The effect of the AgNO3 concentration on the morphology of the Ag-micelles was also investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). At AgNO3 concentration below 0.5 wt%, the Ag-micelles displayed a variety of core-shell structure; but as the AgNO3 concentration was increased to 1.0-2.0 wt%, micelles that had Ag-solid embedded in the micellar core were observed

Ni Interdiffusion Coefficient and Activation Energy in Cu6Sn5

Ni diffusion in Cu6Sn5 intermetallic compound was investigated. First, we successfully fabricated preferred-orientation Cu6Sn5 crystal by liquid-phase electroepitaxy (LPEE). Then, Ni/Cu6Sn5 diffusion couples were produced by sputtering from a Ni thin film onto the Cu6Sn5 crystal. Ni/Cu6Sn5 diffusion couples were annealed at different temperatures of 120A degrees C, 160A degrees C, 200A degrees C, 255A degrees C, 290A degrees C, and 320A degrees C for 2 h in a vacuum. The Ni atomic profile across the Ni/Cu6Sn5 interface was obtained by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). From the Ni atomic profiles, the Matano method was used to evaluate the Ni interdiffusion coefficients ((D) over tilde (Ni)) in the Cu6Sn5 crystal obtained with different annealing temperatures, which then yields the activation energy for Ni diffusion in the Cu6Sn5 crystal at a particular Ni content. We found that, as Ni diffuses in the ternary Cu6-x Ni (x) Sn-5 compound phase, the activation energy of Ni interdiffusion decreases with the Ni content

Development of composite dielectrics with high specific capacitance and stable temperature characteristics

A new alternative of tailoring the dielectric characteristics of a BaTiO3-based ceramic is established in this study. The ceramic dielectrics were made by either two or three constituents having a composition of (Ba0.96Ca0.04)(Ti1.0-xZrxMn0.01)O-3 (BCTZ), where x ranges from 0 to 0.22, and sintered with Ni inner electrodes at 1300degreesC for 4 h in a reducing atmosphere. Both alternative stacking, i.e., layer-by-layer of different compositions, and bulk stacking configurations were prepared by screen-printing, resulting in a composite dielectric of different characteristics. It is obtained that the Curie temperature (T-c) of the BCTZ ceramics decreases with an increase of Zr in the dielectrics, i.e., -8degreesC per mole of Zr. In addition, the stacking configuration, the proportion and the number of constituents in the composite materials control the dielectric characteristics of the multilayer ceramic capacitors. On the basis of the principles outlined, a multilayer ceramic dielectric having k-value in excess of 8000 with the X7R specification (-55 similar to +125degreesC, +/-15%), which consists of two BCTZ ceramics with Curie temperatures of -20 and 100degreesC, was successfully developed. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers