A study was undertaken to evaluate different procedures to safely remove microorganisms, protein, and mammalian cells from materials and provide a suitable method for cleaning and assessing effectiveness of cleaning medical devices for reuse or for analysis of failure. Safety considerations for the personnel performing the cleaning or handling the device after cleaning are important issues. Pol...

This article focuses on the question of how regulation can be best designed to encourage technological innovation. Most scholarship in this area applies standard economic analysis to evaluate the impact of various forms of regulation on technological innovation. We reject that approach as too narrow, drawing instead upon principles of evolutionary economics. The basic premise of the article is ...

Surface cleaning processes are needed in different life cycle phases of technical products. They are important elements in manufacturing and in maintenance during usage as well as in recycling and remanufacturing. To meet the increasing requirements in product durability and functionality, the usage of compound materials and functional coatings becomes over more important. In this regard surfac...

Standards of cleanliness in health care continue to attract attention. Effective cleaning requires the input of energy, and microfibre cloths may help in the physical removal of soil. The ability of these cloths to remove organic soil (measured by ATP) and bacteria was compared with paper towel and a conventional cloth in controlled wet and dry conditions. When used wet on a dry surface, the cl...

Stethoscope diaphragms are frequently colonized by bacteria. This cross-sectional study described the frequency and factors associated with reporting ever cleaning stethoscopes among 408 medical students and doctors at a medical college and 2 teaching hospitals in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A minority of the respondents (37.7%) reported having ever cleaned their stethoscope. Following normal clinica...

The cleaning effect of heavy rain (the rainfall reaches 5 mm every day) on surface contamination of insulators is more effective than dew, fog, mist, and other light rain conditions which can initiate leakage currents and increase the likelihood of flashover. It is well understood that heavy rain can wash away contamination from the surface of high voltage (HV) insulators and thereby reduce the...

This paper discusses opportunities to promote pollution prevention technologies through public policy, describing the case of dry cleaning. The crisis in dry cleaning is associated with the industry's reliance on perchloroethylene (PCE), the chemical cleaning solvent used by the vast majority of cleaners. The limits to the current pollution control or end-of-pipe system of laws and regulations ...