End-user adaptable technologies for rehabilitation: a systematic literature review

Universal Access in the Information Society - Studies on end-user adaptable applications for rehabilitation aim to offer exercises to patients based on their therapeutic goals and individual...     

Functionalized Cellulose for Water Purification,Antimicrobial Applications,and Sensors

As the most abundant natural polymer, cellulose presents a unique advantage for large‐scale applications. To fully unlock its potential, the introduction of desired functional groups onto the cellulose backbone is required, which can be realized by either chemical bonding or physical surface interactions. This review gives an overview of the chemistry behind the state‐of‐the‐art functionalization methods (e.g., oxidation, esterification, grafting) for cellulose in its various forms, from nanocrystals to bacterial cellulose. The existing and foreseeable applications of the obtained products are presented in detail, spanning from water purification and antibacterial action, to sensing, energy harvesting, and catalysis. A special emphasis is put on the interactions of functionalized cellulose with heavy metals, focusing on copper as a prime example. For the latter, its toxicity can either have a harmful influence on aquatic life, or it can be conveniently employed for microbial disinfection. The reader is further introduced to recent sensing technologies based on functionalized cellulose, which are becoming crucial for the near future especially with the emergence of the internet of things. By revealing the potential of water filters and conductive clothing for mass implementation, the near future of cellulose‐based technologies is also discussed.     

Mass spectrometry for enzyme assays and inhibitor screening: an emerging application in pharmaceutical research

Robust methods that monitor enzyme activity and inhibitor potency are crucial to drug discovery and development. Over the past 20 years, mass spectrometric methods have increasingly been used to measure enzyme activity and kinetics. However, for rapid screening of inhibitory compounds, various forms of fluorescence and chemiluminscence readout have continued to dominate the market. As the sensitivity, speed, and miniaturization of mass spectrometry methods continue to advance, opportunities to couple mass spectrometry with screening will continue to come to the forefront. To appreciate the tremendous potential for MS‐based screening assays, it becomes necessary to understand the current state of capabilities in this arena. Thus, this review is intended to capture how mass spectrometry for studying enzymes activity has progressed from simple qualitative questions (i.e., is the product detected?) to quantitative measures of enzyme activity and kinetics and then as a tool for rapidly screening inhibitory compounds as an alternative to current methods of high throughput drug screening. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev     

Parent-subsidiary communication in international biotechnologyR&D

This paper investigates parent-subsidiary technical communication in multinational corporations (MNCs). Subsidiaries of European and Japanese MNCs operating biotechnology R&D facilities in the United States are examined to determine how technical information is transmitted to and from their parent firms. A conceptual model is developed that relates parent company and subsidiary attributes to technical communication between the parent and the US subsidiary. A multimethod approach using both survey and case study methodologies is employed to evaluate this model. The data indicate that European- and Japanese-owned subsidiaries exhibit differences in a number of organizational, cultural, and technology-related attributes, which in turn appear to lead to differences in scientific and technical communication between the subsidiaries and their parents. The concept of communication structure from the organizational communication literature is used to provide a framework for the discussion of the results. In this study. European and Japanese firms exhibit two distinct forms of communication structure characterizing parent-subsidiary technical communication     

Technology adoption, product design, and process change: a casestudy in the machine tool industry

The experience of the machine tool industry suggests that many manufacturing organizations are reexamining their manufacturing processes and technologies in response both to the need to gain flexibility and efficiency in their operations and to a rising awareness of resource costs and environmental concerns. The adoption of new technologies, especially technologies which reduce material requirements and waste, will require organizations to rethink how they design and manufacture their products. Changes in product and process design will affect the technologies and operations of numerous organizations along the production supply chain. Through a case study of the machine tool industry, this paper explores the impacts of the adoption of forming technology instead of conventional cutting technology on the production of selected metal parts. This paper is organized in three parts. In the first part, the costs, technical advantages, and environmental compatibility of cutting and forming technologies are profiled. Forming technology is shown to provide substantial savings in raw material, energy and waste disposal over cutting technology for a class of high-volume metal parts. The second part explores the changes in part and process design which occur when forming technology is adopted for parts which have traditionally been made by cutting. The costs of these design changes must be balanced against the environmental savings. The third part explores the extent to which changes due to the adoption of new forming technology ripple along the production supply chain to suppliers and other upstream organizations     

BWR steam dryer for extended power uprate

A new steam dryer for extended power uprated conditions, based on a design with proven performance record, has been designed by Westinghouse with performance characteristics meeting all utility requirements. Extensive use of computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) has been made to design the new dryer intended for plants of the BWR 3000-type. In addition to numerical simulations, the analyses rely on previous knowledge, acquired from experimental work on steam flow characteristics in the BWR 3000 with its asymmetrically placed steam line nozzles. The new design is expected to both decrease vibration levels in the steam lines and to solve a water-level measurement problem. An extensive experimental verification of the new design is currently in progress.