Transition from Pediatric to Adult Specialty Care for Adolescents and Young Adults with Refractory Epilepsy: A Quality Improvement Approach.

Adolescents and young adults with refractory epilepsy are particularly vulnerable to serious medical and psychosocial challenges during transition from pediatric to adult care. Quality improvement methods were used to address the transition process on an academic medical campus. Outcomes achieved were decreased time from referral to first appointment in the adult clinic, H=8.

Electrochemical "read-write" microscale patterning of boron doped diamond electrodes.

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy is utilised as a read-write pipette-based probe to both electrochemically modify the local surface chemistry of boron doped diamond and "read" the resulting modification, at the micron scale. In this specific application, localised electrochemical oxidation results in conversion of the H-terminated surface to -O, electrochemically visualised by monitoring the current change for reduction of Ru(NH3)6(3+). This methodology, in general, provides a platform for read-write analysis of electrodes, opening up new analytical avenues, particularly as the pipette can be viewed as a microfluidic device.

Electrochemical X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy for trace heavy metal analysis: enhancing X-ray fluorescence detection capabilities by four orders of magnitude.

The development of a novel analytical technique, electrochemical X-ray fluorescence (EC-XRF), is described and applied to the quantitative detection of heavy metals in solution, achieving sub-ppb limits of detection (LOD). In EC-XRF, electrochemical preconcentration of a species of interest onto the target electrode is achieved here by cathodic electrodeposition. Unambiguous elemental identification and quantification of metal concentration is then made using XRF.

Examination of the factors affecting the electrochemical performance of oxygen-terminated polycrystalline boron-doped diamond electrodes.

In order to produce polycrystalline oxygen-terminated boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes suitable for electroanalysis (i.e., widest solvent window, lowest capacitive currents, stable and reproducible current responses, and capable of demonstrating fast electron transfer) for outer sphere redox couples, the following factors must be considered.

Boron doped diamond ultramicroelectrodes: a generic platform for sensing single nanoparticle electrocatalytic collisions.

Boron doped diamond (BDD) disk ultramicroelectrodes have been used to sense single nanoparticle (NP) electrocatalytic collision events. BDD serves as an excellent support electrode due to its electrocatalytic inactivity and low background currents and thus can be used to detect the electroactivity of a wide range of colliding NPs, with high sensitivity. In particular, single NP collisions for hydrazine oxidation at Au and Pt NPs were shown to be markedly different.

Isanti County active living: measuring change in perception and behavior.

Background: In 2003, Isanti County MN received an Active Living by Design grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to increase physical activity through environmental changes.

Purpose: The goal of the Isanti County Active Living project was to provide leadership in promoting environments that offer choices for active living and increase the physical activity of community members. The project conducted two surveys to examine whether project activities had helped in shaping levels of physical activity and perceptions of the built environment.

Electrochemical mapping reveals direct correlation between heterogeneous electron-transfer kinetics and local density of states in diamond electrodes.

Conducting carbon materials: a multi-microscopy approach shows that local heterogeneous electron-transfer rates at conducting diamond electrodes correlate with the local density of electronic states. This model of electroactivity is of considerable value for the rational design of conducting diamond electrochemical technologies, and also provides key general insights on electrode structure controls in electrochemical kinetics.

Fabrication and characterization of an all-diamond tubular flow microelectrode for electroanalysis.

The development of the first all-diamond hydrodynamic flow device for electroanalytical applications is described. Here alternate layers of intrinsic (insulating), conducting (heavily boron doped), and intrinsic polycrystalline diamond are grown to create a sandwich structure. By laser cutting a hole through the material, it is possible to produce a tubular flow ring electrode of a characteristic length defined by the thickness of the conducting layer (for these studies ∼90 μm).

Factors controlling stripping voltammetry of lead at polycrystalline boron doped diamond electrodes: new insights from high-resolution microscopy.

We report wide-ranging studies to elucidate the factors and issues controlling stripping voltammetry of metal ions on solid electrodes using the well-known Pb/Pb(2+) couple on polycrystalline boron doped diamond (pBDD) as an exemplar system. Notably, high-resolution microscopy techniques have revealed new insights into the features observed in differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPV-ASV) which provide a deeper understanding of how best to utilize this technique. DPV-ASV was employed in an impinging wall-jet configuration to detect Pb(2+) in the nanomolar to micromolar concentration range at a pBDD macrodisk electrode.

Amperometric oxygen sensor based on a platinum nanoparticle-modified polycrystalline boron doped diamond disk electrode.

Pt nanoparticle (NP)-modified polycrystalline boron-doped diamond (pBDD) disk electrodes have been fabricated and employed as amperometric sensors for the determination of dissolved oxygen concentration in aqueous solution. pBDD columns were cut using laser micromachining techniques and sealed in glass, in order to make disk electrodes which were then characterized electrochemically. Electrodeposition of Pt onto the diamond electrodes was optimized so as to give the maximum oxygen reduction peak current with the lowest background signal.