Do hotter temperatures increase the incidence of self-harm hospitalisations?

“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Psychology, Health and Medicine on 07 Apr 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13548506.2015.1028945.”Publishe

Development of a representative volume element of lithium-ion batteries for thermo-mechanical integrity

Thesis (Nav. E. and S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-69).The importance of Lithium-ion batteries continues to grow with the introduction of more electronic devices, electric cars, and energy storage. Yet the optimization approach taken by the manufacturers and system designers is one of test and build, an approach that nearly every other industry has long abandoned. A computational model is required to reduce the expensive build-test cycle and allow safer, cheaper batteries to be built. The path to building this computational model will involve many different processes and one of those processes dictates the homogenizing of the interior of the battery casing by treating the interior as a homogenized Representative Volume Element. This study explains this process and outlines a procedure for the development of this particular model for both cylindrical and prismatic / pouch cells. Over twenty different mechanical tests were performed on fully-discharged cylindrical and pouched / prismatic lithium-ion batteries, in casings and without casings under multiple loading conditions. These included lateral indentation by a rod, axial compression, through-thickness compression, in-plane unconfined compression, in-plane confined compression, hemispherical punch indentation and three-point bending. Extensive testing on the battery cell and jelly roll of 18650 lithium ion cylindrical cell, combined with the use of analytical solutions to estimate material properties of the cell, yielded the development of a finite element model. It was found that the suitably calibrated model of high density compressible foam provided a very good prediction of the crash behavior of cylindrical battery cell subjected to high intensity lateral and axial loads. For the prismatic / pouch cell, the measured load-displacement data allowed calculation of the individual compression stress-strain curves for the separator, the active anode and cathode materials. The average stress-volumetric strain relation was derived from averaging the properties of individual layers as well as from direct measurement on the bare cell. This information was then used as an input to the FE model of the cell. The model was composed of shell elements representing the Al and Cu foil and solid elements for the active material with a binder lumped together with the separator. Very good correlation was obtained between LS-Dyna numerical simulation and test results for the through-thickness compression, punch indentation and confined compression. Closed form solutions were also derived for the latter three problems which helped explain the underlying physics and identified important groups of parameters. It was also demonstrated that a thin Mylar pouch enclosure provided considerable reinforcement and in some cases changed the deformation and failure mechanism. This paper reports on the results generated for the Li-ion Battery Consortium at MIT.by Richard Lee Hill, Sr.Nav.E.and S.M

William H. Grier, Sr. Scrapbooks - Accession 567

The William H. Grier, Sr. Papers include correspondence, clippings, memoranda, copies of the company newsletter, telegrams, and other papers, relating to the history of the Rock Hill Printing Company (RHPFC) and to the career of William H. Grier, Sr. (1901-1983) who was a company executive and trustee to Winthrop College (1953-1975). The Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company was founded in 1929 in Rock Hill, SC and was known locally as “The Bleachery.” It was one the nation’s largest textile finishing plants at its height. The Rock Hill plant bleached, dyed, printed and finished cloth and employed nearly 5,000 workers at its height in 1965. The plant site was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 2013. From 1936 to 1976 William H. Grier kept scrapbooks relating to his activities and the activities of the company. These materials are an excellent source for the history of “The Bleachery” and the textile industry in general. The 24 bound scrapbooks contain plant memoranda, newsletters, photographs, newspaper clippings, postcards, correspondence, promotional material, fabric samples, and other material relating to RHPFC. The memoranda and correspondence include information about raises, incentives, the annual Christmas Tree Celebration for the children of the workers, and other topics. The newspaper clippings relate such information as advances by the plant as well as trouble with organized labor. The photographs are of the plant, the workers, Grier and other officers, the area around the plant, and Rock Hill. “The Bleachery” printed and finished the first Rayon woven and printed in the South in 1938. There are fabric samples of the rayon in one of the scrapbooks. RHPFC put forth a great effort on the home front during WWII. They not only had a large number of their workers volunteer for military service but they also printed American flags and contributed other textile products to the war effort. The 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s were a time of change for the textile industry and these issues are reflected in the scrapbooks as well.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/1681/thumbnail.jp

Children's Medicines in Tanzania: A National Survey of Administration Practices and Preferences.

The dearth of age-appropriate formulations of many medicines for children poses a major challenge to pediatric therapeutic practice, adherence, and health care delivery worldwide. We provide information on current administration practices of pediatric medicines and describe key stakeholder preferences for new formulation characteristics. We surveyed children aged 6-12 years, parents/caregivers over age 18 with children under age 12, and healthcare workers in 10 regions of Tanzania to determine current pediatric medicine prescription and administration practices as well as preferences for new formulations. Analyses were stratified by setting, pediatric age group, parent/caregiver education, and healthcare worker cadre. Complete data were available for 206 children, 202 parents/caregivers, and 202 healthcare workers. Swallowing oral solid dosage forms whole or crushing/dissolving them and mixing with water were the two most frequently reported methods of administration. Children frequently reported disliking medication taste, and many had vomited doses. Healthcare workers reported medicine availability most significantly influences prescribing practices. Most parents/caregivers and children prefer sweet-tasting medicine. Parents/caregivers and healthcare workers prefer oral liquid dosage forms for young children, and had similar thresholds for the maximum number of oral solid dosage forms children at different ages can take. There are many impediments to acceptable and accurate administration of medicines to children. Current practices are associated with poor tolerability and the potential for under- or over-dosing. Children, parents/caregivers, and healthcare workers in Tanzania have clear preferences for tastes and formulations, which should inform the development, manufacturing, and marketing of pediatric medications for resource-limited settings

We are all one together : peer educators\u27 views about falls prevention education for community-dwelling older adults - a qualitative study

Background: Falls are common in older people. Despite strong evidence for effective falls prevention strategies, there appears to be limited translation of these strategies from research to clinical practice. Use of peers in delivering falls prevention education messages has been proposed to improve uptake of falls prevention strategies and facilitate translation to practice. Volunteer peer educators often deliver educational presentations on falls prevention to community-dwelling older adults. However, research evaluating the effectiveness of peer-led education approaches in falls prevention has been limited and no known study has evaluated such a program from the perspective of peer educators involved in delivering the message. The purpose of this study was to explore peer educators’ perspective about their role in delivering peer-led falls prevention education for community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A two-stage qualitative inductive constant comparative design was used.In stage one (core component) focus group interviews involving a total of eleven participants were conducted. During stage two (supplementary component) semi-structured interviews with two participants were conducted. Data were analysed thematically by two researchers independently. Key themes were identified and findings were displayed in a conceptual framework. Results: Peer educators were motivated to deliver educational presentations and importantly, to reach an optimal peer connection with their audience. Key themes identified included both personal and organisational factors that impact on educators’ capacity to facilitate their peers’ engagement with the message. Personal factors that facilitated message delivery and engagement included peer-to-peer connection and perceived credibility, while barriers included a reluctance to accept the message that they were at risk of falling by some members in the audience. Organisational factors, including ongoing training for peer educators and formative feedback following presentations, were perceived as essential because they affect successful message delivery. Conclusions: Peer educators have the potential to effectively deliver falls prevention education to older adults and influence acceptance of the message as they possess the peer-to-peer connection that facilitates optimal engagement. There is a need to consider incorporating learnings from this research into a formal large scale evaluation of the effectiveness of the peer education approach in reducing falls in older adults

Don't lose sight of the importance of the individual in effective falls prevention interventions

Falls remain a major public health problem, despite strong growth in the research evidence of effective single and multifactorial interventions, particularly in the community setting. A number of aspects of falls prevention require individual tailoring, despite limitations being reported regarding some of these, including questions being raised regarding the role of falls risk screening and falls risk assessment. Being able to personalise an individual's specific risk and risk factors, increase their understanding of what interventions are likely to be effective, and exploring options of choice and preference, can all impact upon whether or not an individual undertakes and sustains participation in one or more recommendations, which will ultimately influence outcomes. On all of these fronts, the individual patient receiving appropriate and targeted interventions that are meaningful, feasible and that they are motivated to implement, remains central to effective translation of falls prevention research evidence into practice

How Do Developers Refactor Code to Improve Code Reusability?

. Refactoring is the de-facto practice to optimize software health. While there has been several studies proposing refactoring strategies to optimize software design through applying design patterns and removing design defects, little is known about how developers actually refactor their code to improve its reuse. Therefore, we extract, from 1,828 open source projects, a set of refactorings which were intended to improve the software reusability. We analyze the impact of reusability refactorings on state-of-the-art reusability metrics, and we compare the distribution of reusability refactoring types, with the distribution of the remaining mainstream refactorings. Overall, we found that the distribution of refactoring types, applied in the context of reusability, is different from the distribution of refactoring types in mainstream development. In the refactorings performed to improve reusability, source files are subject to more design level types of refactorings. Reusability refactorings significantly impact, high-level code elements, such as packages, classes, and methods, while typical refactorings, impact all code elements, including identifiers, and parameter

How to deal with uncertainty in prenatal genomics: A systematic review of guidelines and policies

Exome Sequencing (ES) enhanced the diagnostic yield of genetic testing, but has also increased the possibility of uncertain findings. Prenatal ES is increasingly being offered after a fetal abnormality is detected through ultrasound. It is important to know how to handle uncertainty in this particularly stressful period. This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of guidelines available for addressing uncertainty related to prenatal chromosomal microarray (CMA) and ES. Ten uncertainty types associated with prenatal ES and CMA were identified and defined by an international multidisciplinary team. Medline (all) and Embase were systematically searched. Laboratory scientists, clinical geneticists, psychologists, and a fetal medicine specialist screened the papers and performed the data extraction. Nineteen papers were included. Recommendations generally emphasized the importance of trio analysis, clinical information, data sharing, validation and re-analysis, protocols, multidisciplinary teams, genetic counselling, whether to limit the possible scope of results, and when to report particular findings. This systematic review helps provide a vocabulary for uncertainties, and a compass to navigate uncertainties. Prenatal CMA and ES guidelines provide a strong starting point for determining how to handle uncertainty. Gaps in guidelines and recommendations were identified and discussed to provide direction for future research and policy making