All CLEAR? Preparing for IT Downtime.

Health care information technology (IT) outages pose a threat to patient safety and patient care continuity. Organizations' downtime plans must be updated regularly and staff at the work area level should have experience with implementing IT outage operations through downtime drills. This article describes the study institution's IT Outage Toolkit, based on the acronym CLEAR, which guides the development of a downtime plan as well as design, execution, and assessment of work area downtime drills.

The Application of Nafion Metal Catalyst Free Carbon Nanotube Modified Gold Electrode: Voltammetric Zinc Detection in Serum.

Metal catalyst free carbon nanotube (MCFCNT) whiskers were first used as an electrode modification material on a gold electrode surface for zinc voltammetric measurements. A composite film of Nafion and MCFCNT whiskers was applied to a gold electrode surface to form a mechanically stable sensor. The sensor was then used for zinc detection in both acetate buffer solution and extracted bovine serum solution.

Manganese Detection with a Metal Catalyst Free Carbon Nanotube Electrode: Anodic versus Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry.

Anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) and cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) were used to determine Mn concentration using metal catalyst free carbon nanotube (MCFCNT) electrodes and square wave stripping voltammetry (SWSV). The MCFCNTs are synthesized using a Carbo Thermal Carbide Conversion method which results in a material that does not contain residual transition metals. Detection limits of 120 nM and 93 nM were achieved for ASV and CSV, respectively, with a deposition time of 60 s.

Simplified nitrate-reductase-based nitrate detection by a hybrid thin-layer controlled potential coulometry/spectroscopy technique.

A novel method for the detection of nitrate was developed using simplified nitrate reductase (SNaR) that was produced by genetic recombination techniques. The SNaR consists of the fragments of the Mo-molybdopterin (MO-MPT) binding site and nitrate reduction active site and has high activity for nitrate reduction. The method is based on a unique combination of the enzyme-catalyzed reduction of nitrate to nitrite by thin-layer coulometry followed by spectroscopic measurement of the colored product generated from the reaction of nitrite with Griess reagents.

Microfabricated electrochemical detector for high-performance liquid chromatography.

A microfabricated electrochemical cell has been developed as a disposable detector for flow injection analysis (FIA) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The simplicity of the fabrication process allows this detector to be used as a low-cost, disposable device that can be replaced easily if its performance degrades rather than disassembling the detector and polishing the electrode surface, which is the usual procedure. The detector consists of thin film-metal electrodes-platinum working electrode, platinum auxiliary electrode, and silver/silver chloride coated on Pt reference electrode-deposited on a polyimide substrate with a locking layer of chromium in between.

Controlling protein translocation through nanopores with bio-inspired fluid walls.

Synthetic nanopores have been used to study individual biomolecules in high throughput, but their performance as sensors does not match that of biological ion channels. Challenges include control of nanopore diameters and surface chemistry, modification of the translocation times of single-molecule analytes through nanopores, and prevention of non-specific interactions with pore walls. Here, inspired by the olfactory sensilla of insect antennae, we show that coating nanopores with a fluid lipid bilayer tailors their surface chemistry and allows fine-tuning and dynamic variation of pore diameters in subnanometre increments.