Cost effectiveness of community leg ulcer clinics: randomised controlled trial

Objectives: To establish the relative cost effectiveness of community leg ulcer clinics that use four layer compression bandaging versus usual care provided by district nurses. Design: Randomised controlled trial with 1 year of follow up. Setting: Eight community based research clinics in four trusts in Trent. Subjects: 233 patients with venous leg ulcers allocated at random to intervention (120) or control (113) group. Interventions: Weekly treatment with four layer bandaging in a leg ulcer clinic (clinic group) or usual care at home by the district nursing service (control group). Main outcome measures: Time to complete ulcer healing, patient health status, and recurrence of ulcers. Satisfaction with care, use of services, and personal costs were also monitored. Results: The ulcers of patients in the clinic group tended to heal sooner than those in the control group over the whole 12 month follow up (log rank P=0.03). At 12 weeks, 34% of patients in the clinic group were healed compared with 24% in the control. The crude initial healing rate of ulcers in intervention compared with control patients was 1.45 (95% confidence interval 1.04 to 2.03). No significant differences were found between the groups in health status. Mean total NHS costs were £878.06 per year for the clinic group and £859.34 for the control (P=0.89). Conclusions: Community based leg ulcer clinics with trained nurses using four layer bandaging is more effective than traditional home based treatment. This benefit is achieved at a small additional cost and could be delivered at reduced cost if certain service configurations were used

The use of a SQUID magnetometer for middle ear research

A new technique is described for the measurement of vibrations in the temporal bones of an isolated middle ear. The precise recording of vibrations in the middle ear is of importance for the construction and improvement of a middle ear prosthesis.1 The method of measurement is based on a transformation of mechanical vibrations into magnetic flux variations. This is performed by attaching a small piece of permanent magnetic material to the eardrum or middle ear ossicles. The magnetic flux variations caused by vibrations of the eardrum or ossicles during application of sound can be measured by means of a SQUID magnetometer.\ud \ud Measurements showed that it is possible to measure vibratory displacement amplitudes of the eardrum down to about 10−10 m in a frequency range between 200 Hz and 10 kHz, although the acoustical and magnetometer conditions were not optimal. The method offers several advantages compared to already existing methods.2–5,

A low-viscosity family of ionic liquids based on the tetracyanoborate anion for CO2 capture

The extraordinary properties of ionic liquids (ILs) such as their negligible vapor pressure have placed them in the spotlight of researchers as alternative solvents for separation processes. The large number of anion/cation combinations allows the possibility of "designing" ILs according to the specifications required for the process. ILs should be chemically and thermally stable. When used for gas purification and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, ILs are required to have a high CO2 absorption capacity and low viscosity. The newly task-specific ILs achieve higher CO2 loadings at moderate pressures, also at supercritical conditions. However, the relatively high viscosity of some ILs is a drawback for their practical application, in spite of their high gas solubility. The aim of this work is to study the feasibility of using tetracyanoborate-based ionic liquid for CO2 capture. The main characteristic of this family of ILs is their low viscosity compared to "traditional" ionic liquids, such as tetrafluoroborate or hexafluoroborate. We will present some pure component properties such as viscosity, density and surface tension, as well as solubility measurements of the binary systems IL+ CO2. The solubility of CO2 in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate [emim][TCB] and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate [hmim][TCB] was measured using the Cailletet apparatus where the bubble point was visually determined. The encouraging results show that the tetracyanoborate ionic liquids have a large potential for CO2 absorption applications

A low-viscosity family of ionic liquids based on the tetracyanoborate anion for CO2 capture

The extraordinary properties of ionic liquids (ILs) such as their negligible vapor pressure have placed them in the spotlight of researchers as alternative solvents for separation processes. The large number of anion/cation combinations allows the possibility of "designing" ILs according to the specifications required for the process. ILs should be chemically and thermally stable. When used for gas purification and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, ILs are required to have a high CO2 absorption capacity and low viscosity. The newly task-specific ILs achieve higher CO2 loadings at moderate pressures, also at supercritical conditions. However, the relatively high viscosity of some ILs is a drawback for their practical application, in spite of their high gas solubility. The aim of this work is to study the feasibility of using tetracyanoborate-based ionic liquid for CO2 capture. The main characteristic of this family of ILs is their low viscosity compared to "traditional" ionic liquids, such as tetrafluoroborate or hexafluoroborate. We will present some pure component properties such as viscosity, density and surface tension, as well as solubility measurements of the binary systems IL+ CO2. The solubility of CO2 in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate [emim][TCB] and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate [hmim][TCB] was measured using the Cailletet apparatus where the bubble point was visually determined. The encouraging results show that the tetracyanoborate ionic liquids have a large potential for CO2 absorption applications