X-linked hypophosphatemia: The value of feedback focus groups to assess patient and caregiver needs.

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare, multi-systemic, invalidating disease requiring a multi-disciplinary approach. No specific action in XLH, neither for the patients' specific needs nor for the methodology for the evaluation of these were found. Thus, to identify the needs of XLH patients and their caregivers, we organised focus groups in our reference centre with a view to build educational sessions. Focus groups including either XLH children, XLH adults, or caregivers ran in parallel. Each group was led by a person trained in therapeutic education (nurse, paediatric nephrologist) with another healthcare provider specialised in XLH (rheumatologist, nephrologist). One additional person with knowledge of XLH (clinical research associate, paediatric resident) took minutes. The duration of each session was 1.5h; XLH patients/caregivers were asked to answer age-adapted "open questions" on their daily life and quality of life. At the end, a global restitution was made. The needs identified were later grouped and analysed, which allowed us to build the educational sessions. The XLH children group included 5 children, the XLH adults group included 10 adults, and the caregivers group included 6 parents or partners. Major needs were identified: knowledge of XLH, treatment, dental care and adapted physical activity, with additional questions on socio-professional adaptations and financial support in adults. Partner patients were also identified to co-build the support programme. The study allowed us to identify the needs of XLH patients and their caregivers using the focus group method and then, using these needs, to build educational sessions and a therapeutic education programme for XLH patients.

Widely Tuneable Composition and Crystallinity of Graded Na1+xTaO3±Î´ Thin Films Fabricated by Chemical Beam Vapor Deposition.

Combinatorial approach has been widely recognized as a powerful strategy to develop new-higher performance materials and shed the light on the stoichiometry-dependent properties of known systems. Herein, we take advantage of the unique features of chemical beam vapor deposition to fabricate compositionally graded Na1+xTaO3±Î´ thin films with −0.6 < x < 0.5. Such a varied composition was enabled by the ability of the employed technique to deliver and combine an extensive range of precursors flows over the same deposition area. The film growth occurred in a complex process, where precursor absolute flows, flow ratios, and substrate temperature played a role. The deviation of the measured Na/Ta ratios from those predicted by flow simulations suggests that a chemical-reaction limited regime underlies the growth mechanism and highlights the importance of the Ta precursor in assisting the decomposition of the Na one. The crystallinity was observed to be strongly dependent on its stoichiometry. High under-stoichiometries (e.g., Na0.5TaO3−δ) compared to NaTaO3 were detrimental for the formation of a perovskite framework, owing to the excessive amount of sodium vacancies and oxygen vacancies. Conversely, a well-crystallized orthorhombic perovskite structure peculiar of NaTaO3 was observed from mildly under-stoichiometric (e.g., Na0.9TaO3−δ) to highly over-stoichiometric (e.g., Na1.5TaO3+δ) compositions.

Geometry of Chemical Beam Vapor Deposition System for Efficient Combinatorial Investigations of Thin Oxide Films: Deposited Film Properties versus Precursor Flow Simulations.

An innovative deposition system has been developed to construct complex material thin films from single-element precursors by chemical beam vapor deposition (CBVD). It relies on well distributed punctual sources that emit individually controlled precursor beams toward the substrate under high vacuum conditions combined with well designed cryo-panel surfaces that avoid secondary precursor sources. In this configuration the impinging flows of all precursors can be calculated at any substrate point considering the controlled angular distribution of the emitted beams and the ballistic trajectory of the molecules. The flow simulation is described in details. The major advantage of the deposition system is its ability to switch between several possible controlled combinatorial configurations, in which the substrate is exposed to a wide range of flow compositions from the different precursors, and a uniform configuration, in which the substrate is exposed to a homogeneous flow, even on large substrates, with high precursor use efficiency. Agreement between calculations and depositions carried out in various system configurations and for single, binary, or ternary oxides in mass transfer limited regime confirms that the distribution of incoming precursors on the substrate follows the theoretical models. Additionally, for some selected precursors and in some selected conditions, almost 100% of the precursor impinging on the substrate is incorporated to the deposit. The results of this work confirm the potentialities of CBVD both as a research tool to investigate efficiently deposition processes and as a fabrication tool to deposit on large surfaces.

Water wetting transition parameters of perfluorinated substrates with periodically distributed flat-top microscale obstacles.

Superhydrophobicity is obtained on photolithographically structured silicon surfaces consisting of flat-top pillars after a perfluorosilanization treatment. Systematic static contact angle measurements were carried out on these surfaces as a function of pillar parameters that geometrically determine the surface roughness, including pillar height, diameter, top perimeter, overall filling factor, and disposition. In line with thermodynamics models, two regimes of static contact angles are observed varying each parameter independently: the "Cassie" regime, in which the water drop sits suspended on top of the pillars (referred to as composite), corresponding to experimental contact angles greater than 140-150 degrees, and the "Wenzel" regime, in which water completely wets the asperities (referred to as wetted), corresponding to lower experimental contact angles. A transition between the Cassie and Wenzel regimes corresponds to a set of well-defined parameters. By smoothly depositing water drops on the surfaces, this transition is observed for surface parameter values far from the calculated ones for the thermodynamic transition, therefore offering evidence for the existence of metastable composite states. For all studied parameters, the position of the experimental transition correlates well with a rough estimation of the energy barrier to be overcome from a composite metastable state in order to reach the thermodynamically favored Wenzel state. This energy barrier is estimated as the surface energy variation between the Cassie state and the hypothetical composite state with complete filling of the surface asperities by water, keeping the contact angle constant.