W use hospital-level discharge data from cardiac patients in California to estimate the effects of focus on operational performance. We examine focus at three distinct levels of the organization—at the firm level, at the operating unit level, and at the process flow level. We find that focus at each of these levels is associated with improved outcomes, namely, faster services at higher levels o...

In this article we introduce and compare three techniques for low-cost and rapid bonding of stereolithographically structured epoxy components to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In short, we first create a polysiloxane layer on the epoxy surface via silane surface coupling and polymerization. Afterwards, the modified epoxy surface can be bonded to a PDMS component at room temperature using a handh...

The growing use of DC/DC power converters has resulted in the requirement that their complex controllers be cheaper and smaller, thus using cost-effective implementations. For this purpose, it is necessary to decrease computational burden controller implementation minimize hardware requirements. This manuscript presents two methods for tuning an adaptive linear–quadratic–Gaussian voltage a batt...

In this study, to mimic the mineral and organic components of natural bone, hydroxyapatite[HA] and gelatin[GEL] composite scaffolds were prepared using the solvent-casting method combined with a freeze drying process. Glutaraldehyde[GA] was used as a cross linking agent and sodium bisulfite was used as an excess GA discharger. Using this technique, it is possible to produce scaffolds with mecha...

In this paper, we propose a balloon pump with floating valves to control the discharge flow rates of sample solutions. Because the floating valves were made from a photoreactive resin, the shapes of the floating valves could be controlled by employing different exposure patterns without any change in the pump configurations. Owing to the simple preparation process of the pump, we succeeded in c...

An e-message system is one of the promising communication tools for fostering better collaboration between hospitals and municipal-based homecare services. However, hospital care is often confronted with patients that need a myriad of services after discharge, of which municipal homecare is only one. We conducted a qualitative interview study to examine hospital health professionals’ experience...

Free crest spillways are hydraulically efficient and safe in operation. Since their discharge capacity is directly proportional to the crest length several types have been developed with the purpose to increase the length of the latter. Among these types traditional labyrinth weir spillways have been studied and used for a long time. Their hydraulic performance and the effect of the involved ge...

A dual-chamber anode structure is proposed in order to solve two performance problems of the conventional passive micro direct methanol fuel cell (μ-DMFC). One of the problems is the unstable performance during long time discharge. The second problem is the short operating time. In this structure, low concentration chamber is filled with methanol solution with appropriate concentration for the ...