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Tim Mercer,1 Alice C Chang,2 Lydia Fischer,3 Adrian Gardner,4–6 Immaculate Kerubo,7,8 Dan N Tran,7,9 Jeremiah Laktabai,10 Sonak Pastakia7,9 1Department of Population Health, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX 78712, USA; 2Genentech Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA; 3Department of Child Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; 4Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; 5Department of Medicine, Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya; 6Indiana Institute for Global Health, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; 7Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya; 8National Spinal Injury Referral Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya; 9Department of Pharmacy Practice, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, Purdue Kenya Partnership P.O. Box 5760, Eldoret 30100, Kenya; 10Department of Family Medicine, Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, KenyaCorrespondence: Sonak PastakiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Purdue Kenya Partnership, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, P.O. Box 5760, Eldoret 30100, KenyaEmail spastaki@gmail.comAbstract: Diabetes is a chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) presenting growing health and economic burdens in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Diabetes is unique due to its cross-cutting nature, impacting multiple organ systems and increasing the risk for other communicable and non-communicable diseases. Unfortunately, the quality of care for diabetes in SSA is poor, largely due to a weak disease management framework and fragmented health systems in most sub-Saharan African countries. We argue that by synergizing disease-specific vertical programs with system-specific horizontal programs through an integrated disease-system diagonal approach, we can improve access, quality, and safety of diabetes care programs while also supporting other chronic diseases. We recommend utilizing the six World Health Organization (WHO) health system building blocks – 1) leadership and governance, 2) financing, 3) health workforce, 4) health information systems, 5) supply chains, and 6) service delivery – as a framework to design a diagonal approach with a focus on health system strengthening and integration to implement and scale quality diabetes care. We discuss the successes and challenges of this approach, outline opportunities for future care programming and research, and highlight how this approach can lead to the improvement in the quality of care for diabetes and other chronic diseases across SSA.Keywords: diabetes, sub-Saharan African, integrated diagonal health systems approach, health system building blocks, health system strengthening, health system integration

Measurement of the Structural Unit (SU – containing both the solid phase and trapped­fluid within their associated structures) in magnetic dispersions has been carried out using Hindered Settling (HS) analysis that uses scanning column magnetometry and cone & plate rheology techniques. From this, an equivalent Stokes’ particle diameter, d, of (5.2 ≤ d ≤ 8.2) microns was determined that is approximately 22 times larger than the iron oxide particles of our formulation. A previous computer simulation based on HS theory produces complete concentration­height profiles of the sedimenting system over time that compare well when using a correspondingly large trapped­liquid fraction of around the 84% of the SU volume determined here, giving confidence in the result. As interest in iron oxide suspensions for potential biomedical and chemical decontamination/catalysis applications continues to grow an understanding of their structures is likely to become increasingly important.

Two systems of core-shell superparamagnetic nanoparticles in the size range of 45-80 nm have been fabricated by the coating of bare magnetite particles with either mesoporous silica or liposomes and the loading/release of the anti-cancer drug Mitomycin C (MMC) from their surfaces has been investigated. The magnetic cores of size ∼10 nm were produced by a co-precipitation method in aqueous solution, with the silica coating containing an unstructured network of pores of size around 6nm carried out using a surfactant-templating approach and the liposome coating achieved by an evaporationimmersion technique of the particles in a lipid solution. Stability measurements using a scanning column magnetometry technique indicated that the lipid-coating of the particles halts the sedimentation otherwise apparent in <1 h for the bare magnetite to produce an ultra-stable system and thereby overcome one of the main barriers to potential in-vivo applications. Whilst an increase in stability was also observed in the silica-coated system, it was still unstable over a few hours and will require further investigation. Magnetization curves of the coated systems were indicative of superparamagnetic behavior whilst the in vitro loading and release of MMC resulted in two distinctly different outcomes for the two systems: (i) the silica-coated particles saturated in <4 h to a loading of around 7 μg/mg of material, releasing about 6% at a near constant rate over 48 h whilst (ii) the lipid-coated particles saturated to around only 4 μg/mg over the same time period but with a subsequent rapid release rate over the first 3 h to 27% then rising near-linearly to a value of about 45% at the 48 h mark. This gives scope for systems' to be tuned to the appropriate rate and load delivery as required by clinical need with further investigations underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental study of dc modulation noise as a function of the remanent magnetized state has been made for a set of advanced metal particle tapes with identical particles but different magnetic coating thickness between 150 and 300 nm. The thickest tape showed noise characteristics similar to conventional thick tapes, whilst the noise spectrum of the thinnest was 'thin-film' like. A simulation of a magnetic recording head-read process has been developed and applied to a model of particulate recording media. This showed that particles at the surface contribute noise characteristics similar with those of thin films, whereas noise from particles in the bulk is characteristic of thick media. As tapes get thinner, the noise is dominated by the characteristics of the particles on the top surface. Index Terms--Flexible medium, magnetic recording noise, magnetic tape recording, metal particle tape.

A study was performed on the effects of magnetic interactions on the stability of recording media dispersions. Particles of 300 Oe gamma-Fe2O3 had been successfully transformed to a nonmagnetic alpha phase. Variation of the pigment's magnetic content showed that increasing the interactions results in lower stability. Results were interpreted in terms of hindered settling theory as evidence of clustering of the particles by magnetostatic interaction.

Presents a study that investigated photoinduced scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of insulating diamond films. Use of scanning tunneling spectroscopy in probing the local electronic structure of illuminated insulating surfaces; Description of the polycrystalline diamond film used in the study; Effects of incoherent and coherent light incident on tunnel junctions in STM measurements.