K. (2015). Evaluation of a pilot volunteer feeding assistance program: Influences on the dietary intakes of elderly hospitalised patients and lessons learnt. Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, 19 (2), 206-210. Evaluation of a pilot volunteer feeding assistance program: Influences on the dietary intakes of elderly hospitalised patients and lessons learnt AbstractObjectives Malnutrition is a serious concern in hospitals and is known to be associated with increased complications for patients, increased hospital costs and length of stay. Trained volunteers that assist 'at risk' and malnourished patients at lunch meals have been shown to effectively increase nutritional intake in a suburban hospital in Sydney. The pilot study reported here aimed to evaluate and share learnings from a similar, newly implemented program, comparing energy and macronutrient intakes on days with no volunteer assistance, to days with volunteers. Design Dietary intakes were determined by visual estimation of meal trays before and after meals, for two days without volunteers, and two days with volunteer assistance at lunch. Macronutrient and energy intakes were compared and data such as weight, height, diet type and medical history were obtained from medical records. Questionnaires were completed by nurses and volunteers in regards to their views and experiences with the program. Setting Hospital based. Results Eight patients (83±4.5 years) participated in the study. When volunteers were present at lunch, the average macronutrient and energy intakes increased, though not statistically significantly. The mean increases were 316kJ (p=0.175) for energy, 3.1g (p=0.468) for protein, 1.4g (p=0.418) for fat and 11.6g (p=0.084) for carbohydrates. Nonsignificant increases in macronutrients were also noted for the average daily intakes. Conclusion Although not statistically significant, energy and macronutrient intakes increased when volunteers were present. The implementation of a volunteer feeding assistance program is one strategy to assist dietary intakes but requires a ready team of volunteers, training, acceptance and significant time to develop. AbstractObjectives: Malnutrition is a serious concern in hospitals and is known to be associated with increased complications for patients, increased hospital costs and length of stay. Trained volunteers that assist 'at risk' and malnourished patients at lunch meals have been shown to effectively increase nutritional intake in a suburban hospital in Sydney. The pilot study reported here aimed to evaluate a similar, newly implemented program, comparing energy and macronutrient intakes on days with no volunteer assistance, to days with volunteers.Design: Dietary intakes were determined by visual estimation of meal trays before and after meals, for two days without volunteers, and two days with volunteer assistance at lunch. Macronutrient and energy intakes were compared and data such as weight, height, diet type and medical history were obtained from medical records. Questionnaires were completed b...

Our data demonstrate that continuous IA chemotherapy could achieve a competitive acceptable survival rate and improved locoregional control of advanced oral commissure cancer.

This paper describes the development, fabrication and examination of an atom chip through silicon vias (TSV), which is anodically bonded with a Pyrex glass cell to form an ultra-high-vacuum system for the application of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) experiments. The silicon via is etched by the inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etch and filled by copper plating technology. The metal wires on both sides of the atom chips are patterned by the lithography process. Three different sizes of TSV are made and tested by continuously applying a maximum current of 17 A under the vacuum (70 Torr) and in air. In addition, after the thermal cycling of an anodic bonding process (requested at 350 • C) and a high electric field of 1000 V m −1 , the TSV on atom chips can still hold the ultra-high vacuum (UHV). The conductive and vacuum yields of the TSV improved from 50% to 100% and from 75% to 81.25%, respectively after the modification of the fabrication process. Finally, the UHV test of TSV on atom chips at room temperature can be reached at 8 × 10 −10 Torr, thus satisfying the requirements of atomic physics experiments under the UHV environment.

This study presents a double-layer atom chip that provides users with increased diversity in the design of the wire patterns and flexibility in the design of the magnetic field. It is more convenient for use in atomic physics experiments. A negative photoresist, SU-8, was used as the insulating layer between the upper and bottom copper wires. The electrical measurement results show that the upper and bottom wires with a width of 100 µm can sustain a 6 A current without burnout. Another focus of this study is the double-layer atom chips integrated with the through silicon via (TSV) technique, and anodically bonded to a Pyrex glass cell, which makes it a desired vacuum chamber for atomic physics experiments. Thus, the bonded glass cell not only significantly reduces the overall size of the ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) chamber but also conducts the high current from the backside to the front side of the atom chip via the TSV under UHV (9.5 × 10−10 Torr). The TSVs with a diameter of 70 µm were etched through by the inductively coupled plasma ion etching and filled by the bottom-up copper electroplating method. During the anodic bonding process, the electroplated copper wires and TSVs on atom chips also need to pass the examination of the required bonding temperature of 250 °C, under an applied voltage of 1000 V. Finally, the UHV test of the double-layer atom chips with TSVs at room temperature can be reached at 9.5 × 10−10 Torr, thus satisfying the requirements of atomic physics experiments under an UHV environment.

This study describes the design and fabrication of transparent atom chips for atomic physics experiments. A fabrication process was developed to define the wire patterns on a transparent glass substrate to create the desired magnetic field for atom trapping experiments. An area on the chip was reserved for the optical access, so that the laser light can penetrate directly through the glass substrate for the laser cooling process. Furthermore, since the thermal conductivity of the glass substrate is poorer than other common materials for atom chip substrate, for example silicon, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride. Thus, heat dissipation copper blocks are designed on the front and back of the glass substrate to improve the electrical current conduction. The testing results showed that a maximum burnout current of 2 A was measured from the wire pattern (with a width of 100 μm and a height of 20 μm) without any heat dissipation design and it can increase to 2.5 A with a heat dissipation design on the front side of the atom chips. Therefore, heat dissipation copper blocks were designed and fabricated on the back of the glass substrate just under the wire patterns which increases the maximum burnout current to 4.5 A. Moreover, a maximum burnout current of 6 A was achieved when the entire backside glass substrate was recessed and a thicker copper block was electroplated, which meets most requirements of atomic physics experiments.

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