Hydrogen storage in Mg: A most promising material

Life expectancy in most countries has been increasing continually over the several few decades thanks to significant improvements in medicine, public health, as well as personal and environmental hygiene. However, increased life expectancy combined with falling birth rates are expected to engender a large aging demographic in the near future that would impose significant burdens on the socio-economic structure of these countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop cost-effective, easy-to-use systems for the sake of elderly healthcare and well-being. Remote health monitoring, based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that allows the elderly to continue to live in their comfortable home environment instead of expensive healthcare facilities. These systems will also allow healthcare personnel to monitor important physiological signs of their patients in real time, assess health conditions and provide feedback from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years. A survey on textile-based sensors that can potentially be used in wearable systems is also presented. Finally, compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.

Wearable Sensors for Remote Health Monitoring.

One-dimensional coordination polymers: applications to material science

▪ Abstract Metal-hydrogen (M-H) systems are interesting from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. M-H systems are utilized for energy-storage systems, in sensor applications, and in catalysis. These systems are often exploited as models for studying basic material properties, especially when the size of these systems is small and nonbulk-like contributions become dominant. Surfaces, nanocrystals, vacancy- and dislocation-rich materials, thin films, multilayers, and clusters as systems of major interest are addressed in this review. We show that the hydrogen solubility of M-H systems is strongly affected by the morphology and microstructure of and the stress between regions of different hydrogen concentration. For small-sized systems, surface- or interface-related sites become important and change the overall solubility as well as the phase boundaries of M-H systems. In thin films deposited on stiff substrates, compressive stresses evolve during hydrogen loading because the films are effective...

HYDROGEN IN METALS: Microstructural Aspects

Hydrogen storage alloys are of particular interest as a novel group in functional materials owing to their potential and practical applications in Ni/MH rechargeable batteries. This review is devoted to the specific alloy families developed for high-energy and high-power Ni/MH batteries in the last decades, especially for EV, HEV and PHEV applications. The scope of the work encompasses principles of Ni/MH batteries, electrochemical hydrogen storage thermodynamics and kinetics, prerequisites for hydrogen storage electrode alloys and recent advances in hydrogen storage electrode alloys. Rare earth AB5-type alloys, Ti- and Zr-based AB2-type alloys, Mg-based amorphous/nanocrystalline alloys, rare earth-Mg–Ni-based alloys and Ti–V-based alloys are highlighted. Additionally, the challenges met in developing advanced hydrogen storage alloys for Ni/MH rechargeable batteries are pointed out and some research directions are suggested.

Advanced hydrogen storage alloys for Ni/MH rechargeable batteries

The growing interest in affective computing is expected to have its beneficial impact on consumer lifestyle products. Especially emphatic applications — applications that make you feel they really understand you — will serve the current consumer interest in enhanced and meaningful experiences. To do so, the applications will have to measure the user's emotional experience. Well-established psychophysiological techniques bear promise, but so far have mainly been validated in laboratory situations. To also apply them in real-life situations, we built an emotion measurement platform. This platform shows that emotional experiences can be measured in a relatively unobtrusive way, while at the same time it enables us to gather knowledge on emotional experiences in everyday-life and it offers the opportunity to prototype emphatic application concepts and test them in relevant situations.

http://www.gjdv.nl/docs/publications/Westerink_et_al_2009_ACII_2009_platform.pdf

Emotion measurement platform for daily life situations

A description is given of a switching device (1) comprising a transparent substrate (3), a switching film (5) including hydrides of gadolinium or other trivalent metal, and magnesium, covered with a palladium layer (7). By exchange of hydrogen, the switching film can be reversibly switched from a transparent state to a mirror-like state with zero transmission via an intermediate black absorbing state. The conversion between both states is reversible, and this phenomenon can be used, for example, in an optical switching element or sun roof.

Optical switching device comprising switchable hydrides

Monitoring apparatus (4) for monitoring a user's heart, the apparatus comprising several sensors (14, 16) for measuring changes in an electrical parameter of a user's arm (20), from which changes in an electrocardiogram, heart rate and/or heart rate variation of the user's heart are determinable. The apparatus further comprises a data processor (28) for determining the electrocardiogram, the heart rate and/or heart rate variation from the changes in the electrical parameter; and an output device (32) for making knowable to the user the electrocardiogram, heart rate and/or heart rate variation. A basic idea of the present invention is, to use only a single wristband, particularly a wrist watch, having all the means to monitor the user's heart, without using for example a chest band. Herein, the single wristband is at least provided with the at least one sensor and particularly also comprises the data processor, and more particularly also comprises the output device.

Apparatus for monitoring a person's heart rate and/or heart rate variation; wristwatch comprising the same

Heart defibrillator comprising a high-voltage power supply, a storage capacitor, and at least two electrodes, and at least one contactless biometric sensor. Since the biometric sensor does not need to be in contact with the skin of the patient, it maintains its sensing capabilities even through any regular clothing between the sensor and the body of which one or several biometric signal are to be measured. Therefore, an initial assessment of the health state of a patient can be quickly obtained. The high- voltage power supply, the storage capacitor and the at least two electrodes are used for producing an electrical pulse and applying said pulse to a patient.

Heart defibrillator with contactless ecg sensor for diagnostics/effectivity feedback

Transflective display device having a transflector (10) which is switchable between a transparent state and a mirror-like state. Preferably, a metal hydride optical switch is used as the transflector.

Martin Ouwerkerk

Papers

Emotion measurement platform for daily life situations

Optical switching device comprising switchable hydrides

Apparatus for monitoring a person's heart rate and/or heart rate variation; wristwatch comprising the same

Heart defibrillator with contactless ecg sensor for diagnostics/effectivity feedback

Transflective display device