Implementation of an integrated glucose POCT system

In response to a change of the Belgian National Directives whereby hospital laboratories became responsible for all point-of-care testing (POCT) performed within hospital walls a standardized and automated POC glucose-testing system was implemented in our hospital. The system consists of 50 AccuCheck Inform instruments (Roche Diagnostics, Vilvoorde, Belgium), 50 docking stations, a DataCare Server, and connections to the medical laboratory information system (MOLIS, Sysmex, Barchon, Belgium) and to the hospital information system. Implementation involved many parties and extensive preparation and communication. Key issues were bar-coded patient and user identification, training, and responsibilities. One year after the hospital wide implementation of this system the quality of POC glucose testing has significantly increased, thereby improving patient safety. This study describes a stepwise change over involving the medical laboratory and with a focus on hands-on quality.Presented at the ninth conference on Quality in the Spotlight, 18–19 March 2004, Antwerp, Belgium.     

Rheological and physical properties of aliphatic hyperbranched polyesters

The effects of the size (pseudo‐generation number) and nature of end groups on physical and rheological properties were investigated for a series of hyperbranched polyesters based on an ethoxylated pentaerythritol core and 2,2‐bis‐(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid repeat units. The observed linear dependence of the melt viscosity on the molar mass in the high pseudo‐generation‐number limit indicated that entanglement effects were substantially absent. Moreover, the marked influence of end capping of the end groups on the physical and rheological properties suggested that intermolecular interactions were dominated by contacts between the outer shells of the molecules, in which the end groups were assumed to be concentrated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1218–1225, 2004     

Cotangent cohomology of Stanley-Reisner rings

Simplicial complexes X provide commutative rings A(X) via the Stanley- Reisner construction. We calculated the cotangent cohomology, i.e., T¹ and T² of A(X) in terms of X. These modules provide information about the deformation theory of the algebro geometric objects assigned to X.     

Lower semicontinuity of quasi-convex integrals in BV

Some boundedness properties for an extension operator are proved and used together with techniques of Maly [24], Meyers [29], Fonseca and Müller [13] and Fonseca and Marcellini [12] to obtain lower semicontinuity results in BV for quasiconvex integrals of super-linear growth. Received January 25, 1997 / Accepted October 3, 1997     

Canonical desingularization in characteristic zero by blowing up the maximum strata of a local invariant

Summary. This article contains an elementary constructive proof of resolution of singularities in characteristic zero. Our proof applies in particular to schemes of finite type and to analytic spaces (so we recover the great theorems of Hironaka). We introduce a discrete local invariant whose maximum locus determines a smooth centre of blowing up, leading to desingularization. To define , we need only to work with a category of local-ringed spaces satisfying certain natural conditions. If , then depends only on . More generally, is defined inductively after any sequence of blowings-up whose centres have only normal crossings with respect to the exceptional divisors and lie in the constant loci of . The paper is self-contained and includes detailed examples. One of our goals is that the reader understand the desingularization theorem, rather than simply “know” it is true. Oblatum 27-VII-1995 & 30-V-1996     

Algebraic representation of the linear problem as a method to construct the Darboux-Bäcklund transformation

An effective algorithm to construct the Darboux matrix based on the dressing method is proposed. Our approach consists in representing the linear problem as a system of algebraic constraints on two matrices. The Darboux matrix is determined from the requirement that the Darboux-Bäcklund transformation preserves these constraints. A non-isospectral deformation of the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation is discussed as an example.     

Polyèdre de Newton et distributionf + s . II

Sans résumé

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Detailed nuclear structure studies far from stability

State-of-the-art spectroscopy of nuclei far from stability has achieved an extraordinary level of sophistication and detail in the last ten years. In principle, if a state can be populated, it can be characterized by its energy, spin, parity, and major decay paths. Sometimes its lifetime can be measured. In practice, one is confronted with enormous complexity. To convert raw spectroscopic data into nuclear structure data involves a complex process of disentangling gamma rays and conversion electrons into decay schemes. Specifically, coincidence techniques, especially coincidence intensities, play a crucial role in this process. Recent examples and methods from work done at UNISOR are presented.     

A new insight into the understanding of the collapsed form of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) molecules

Possible collapsed forms of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) molecules are reviewed on the basis of first principle calculations. Various configurations and associated conformations are detailed. The calculated optimized structures exhibit different possibilities of creating networks of intra-molecular bonds of the hydrogen type. We show that the most remarkable one is able to form a local, self-saturated and well ordered helix. We also indicate in which direction the synthesis of the molecule should be oriented to improve its global behavior in term of hydrophobic/hydrophilic behavior.