Abstract-We introduce a curvature sensor composed of a thin, transparent elastomer film (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) embedded with a microchannel of conductive liquid (eutectic Gallium Indium, eGaIn) and a sensing element. Bending the sensor exerts pressure on the embedded microchannel via the sensing element. Deformation of the cross-section of the microchannel leads to a change in electrical resistance. We demonstrate the functionality of the sensor through testing on a finger joint. The film is wrapped around a finger with the sensing element positioned on top of the knuckle. Finger bending both stretches the elastomer and exerts pressure on the sensing element, leading to an enhanced change in the electrical resistance. Because the sensor is soft (elastic modulus E ∼ 1 MPa) and stretchable (>350%), it conforms to the host bending without interfering with the natural mechanics of motion. This sensor represents the first use of liquid-embedded elastomer electronics to monitor human or robotic motion.
Objective: To determine the rate of adverse events and incidents occurring as a result of hospital staff leaving normal duties to attend medical emergency team (MET) calls.Design, participants and setting: Single-centre, interview and questionnairebased study of staff attending MET calls at a 650-bed university teaching hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, July to December 2013.Main outcome measure: The rate of adverse events and incidents directly related to MET staff leaving normal duties to attend MET calls.Results: During the study period, 1490 structured interviews were conducted, and 279 written questionnaires were returned (overall response rate, 66.4%). There were no adverse events. There were 378 recorded incidents. The incident rate was 213.7 incidents per 1000 MET participant attendances (95% CI, 194.8-233.5), and 1.1 incidents per MET call. Using the severity assessment code, 99.5% of incidents were classified as minimum. The most commonly reported incidents were disruptions to normal duties, ward rounds, and patient reviews. Only 0.8% of incidents were reported on institutional incident reporting systems.Conclusion: Significant disruption to normal hospital routines and inconvenience to staff occurred, without causing major harm to patients, when MET staff temporarily left normal duties to attend MET calls. Normal hospital incident reporting systems cannot be used to monitor for these problems, as they are underreported.
Development of methods to spray form materials by precisely controlled deposition of droplets can result in new manufacturing processes which offer improved metallurgical performance and reduced production costs. These processes require a more detailed knowledge of the fluid mechanics, heat transfer and solidification that occur during droplet spreading. Previous work using computer simulations of this process have been difficult to implement and have required long running times. This paper examines the use of an alternative, simplified, method developed by Madjeski for solving for the problem of droplet spreading and solidification. These simplifications reduce the overall splat spreading and solidification problem to a closed-form differential equation. This differential equation is then solved under various conditions as reported from recent publications of experimental and numerical results of drop analysis. The results from the model are compared in terms of maximum splat diameter, minimum splat thickness, and time for the droplet spreading to reach 95% of the maximum diameter. The results indicate that the accuracy of the model can be improved by accounting for energy losses in the initial rate of droplet spreading. The model results show that the predictions of experimental results are improved to within 30% over a wide range of conditions.
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