ATR-FTIR use for quantification of adsorbed organic compounds

Conference paper presented at ISRANALYTICA 2013 Conference and Exhibition, the 16th Annual Meeting of the Israel Analytical Chemistry Society, which took place in David Intercontinental Hotel (Tel-Aviv, Israel) during 30-31th January 2013. The paper was presented at first day in Session E: Spectral Methods of Analysis.Adsorption of organic compounds to clays is usually measured indirectly, by mass balance calculations based on the evaluation of the remaining chemical in solution. Such procedure might yield overestimates when precipitation or degradation occurs, and underestimates when separation between the sorbent particles and adsorbed chemical is not effective. This study presents a simple quantification procedure based on the ratio between IR absorption bands of the sorbent and the adsorbate. As an example, Fig. 1 shows FTIR spectra of phosphatidyl choline adsorbed on Wyoming montmorillonite. Adsorbed amounts (in mmole/g) were measured by TOC. Fig. 2 shows adsorbed amounts by TOC compared with the proposed technique. The advantages of the procedure are (a) it evaluates directly the adsorbed amount on the sorbent (b) it might measure accurately chemicals that don't absorb in the UV-Visible range

Evaluating an organization-wide disparity reduction program: Understanding what works for whom and why

Background: Disparity-reduction programs have been shown to vary in the degree to which they achieve their goal; yet the causes of these variations is rarely studied. We investigated a broad-scale program in Israel’s largest health plan, aimed at reducing disparities in socially disadvantaged groups using a composite measure of seven health and health care indicators. Methods: A realistic evaluation was conducted to evaluate the program in 26 clinics and their associated managerial levels. First, we performed interviews with key stakeholders and an ethnographic observation of a regional meeting to derive the underlying program theory. Next, semi-structured interviews with 109 clinic teams, subregional headquarters, and regional headquarters personnel were conducted. Social network analysis was performed to derive measures of team interrelations. Perceived team effectiveness (TE) and clinic characteristics were assessed to elicit contextual characteristics. Interventions implemented by clinics were identified from interviews and coded according to the mechanisms each clinic employed. Assessment of each clinic’s performance on the seven-indicator composite measure was conducted at baseline and after 3 years. Finally, we reviewed different context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations to understand what works to reduce disparity, and under what circumstances. Results: Clinics’ inner contextual characteristics varied in both network density and perceived TE. Successful CMO configurations included 1) highly dense clinic teams having high perceived TE, only a small gap to minimize, and employing a wide range of interventions; (2) clinics with a large gap to minimize with high clinic density and high perceived TE, focusing efforts on tailoring services to their enrollees; and (3) clinics having medium to low density and perceived TE, and strong middle-management support. Conclusions: Clinics that achieved disparity reduction had high clinic density, close ties with middle management, and tailored interventions to the unique needs of the populations they serve.</p

Journal officiel de la République française. Lois et décrets

03 février 18861886/02/03 (A18,N33).Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : MAEDIGen0Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : MAEDI008Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : MAEDI012Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : MAEDI006Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : MAEDI00

Context-mechanism-outcome configurations of target clinics.

<p>Context-mechanism-outcome configurations of target clinics.</p

Context: Characteristics of target clinics.

<p>Context: Characteristics of target clinics.</p

Implementation of QI program by target clinics.

<p>Implementation of QI program by target clinics.</p

Outline of organizational structure and data collection strategy.

<p>d = clinic director, a physician; n = nursing director; a = administrative head; p = pharmacist.</p

Outcomes: Change in QUIDS score of target clinics.

<p>Outcomes: Change in QUIDS score of target clinics.</p