Scientific Research Publishing

Renewable energy is an important alternative to conventional burning of fossil fuels and natural gases. Solar energy is one example of a renewable energy source. There are two main methods for converting solar energy into more useful forms of energy like electricity or heat: 1) photo-voltaic cells, and 2) solar thermal systems. Photo-voltaic cells are widely used and have been heavily investigated. Solar thermal systems are less common and have not been investigated with the same detail as photo-voltaic systems. Within the field of solar thermal systems, there are two primary constructions: 1) flat plate collectors (FPC), and 2) evacuated tube collectors (ETC), and each has its own strength. Flat plate collectors can collect both direct and diffuse radiation, and also operate better at low temperatures. In an effort to optimize the efficiency of both systems in a rainy climate, this project combined the two designs into one small hybrid prototype collector utilizing both ETC and F...

Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) is a member of the family Herpesviridae, and subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae . Herpesviruses are double-stranded, and enveloped DNA viruses that cause a wide range of diseases in humans and other animals. HSV-1 undergoes both lytic and lysogenic infection cycles. HSV-1’s infection cycle begins with a rapid lytic infection of epithelial cells (typically oral) in vivo and in susceptible cultured cells in vitro . HSV-1 is also neurotropic and infection proceeds into nearby neurons via retrograde axonal transport, ultimately resulting in life-long latency in host sensory neurons. Since, the virus undergoes lysogenic infection, the immune system of an individual could never get rid of the virus completely. Therefore, recurrent viral infections are always a threat for HSV infected individuals. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a green tea polyphenol, is the primary catechin obtained from leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. EGCG has been previously demon...

Coffee is one of the world’s most popular beverages, owing to its distinctive aroma and flavor. Coffee is grown worldwide in more than 50 countries. World coffee consumption is growing each year, however, there is little information available about assessor coffee choice and preference in terms of coffee consumption habits. In fact, coffee drinkers have different coffee consuming and taste preference and like to imbibe coffee in different ways (i.e. black, with milk/creamer, sweetened etc.). The aim of this study was to evaluate the descriptive sensory attributes of coffee presented to trained assessors in four different ways (black unsweetened, black sweetened, white unsweetened and white sweetened), and also to obtain information on untrained assessor hedonic preferences for the same four different presentation styles. Sensory profiles of two commercial ground-roasted Arabica coffees (currently available on the Irish and UK marketplace) were studied through Sensory Acceptanc...

Preoperative informational letters are often provided to help patients understand their surgery and recovery. Patients who are well informed before undergoing surgery experience reduced stress, increased understanding of the postoperative process, and increased participation in decision-making. A combination of written and oral information is preferred by the patients. Furthermore, written, structured, and comprehensive information is perceived to be valuable. Although providing patients with written information before gynecological surgery is widely used and assumed important, no study has investigated what information patients truly need. This study maps the contents of departmental informational letters and explores whether the national GynOp letters live up to the patients’ expectations and needs.  In 2014, all 59 gynecological departments in Sweden were asked to provide the information letter they send to patients before hysterectomy on benign indication. 32 let...

Lumbar spondylolysis is a fatigue fracture of the vertebral pars interarticularis caused by repeated extension and rotation of the lower trunk in young athletes. The prevalence of pars defects is reportedly high in adolescent athletes with back pain. Although lumbar spondylolysis is a major cause of low back pain in adolescence, it is usually asymptomatic in early stages. Vibration signal analysis is a method used to measure changes in specific signal frequency components resulting from bone fracture, as the natural frequency of bone varies depending on bone shape. Unlike large-size imaging systems, such as MRI and CT, vibration signal analysis only requires simple equipment and can be performed anywhere. Thus, it can be performed outside medical institutions, where imaging examinations cannot be carried out. To detect early-stage spondylolysis using the vibration signal analysis is possible to prevent aggravation of spondylolysis as a new diagnostic tool instead of the imaging s...

Stunted growth, also known as stunting and nutritional stunting, is a reduced growth rate in human development. It is a primary manifestation of malnutrition (or more precisely undernutrition) and recurrent infections, such as diarrhea and helminthiasis, in early childhood and even before birth, due to malnutrition during fetal development brought on by a malnourished mother. One in four children under 5 years of age in the developing world are stunted (chronically malnourished). Reducing stunting can be a challenge, especially in populous countries where families are dispersed, as is the case in Indonesia. This paper described how one government project (Indonesia’s National Nutrition Communication Campaign [NNCC]) delivered effective behavior change communications interventions that reached 40 million people. This paper focused on four challenges that nutrition campaigns often face: engaging stakeholders, engaging journalists, adapting messages, and utilizing media and described...

Various studies linked high concentrations of PM 2.5 from wildfires and wood burning to respiratory and cardiac illnesses especially in sensitive people with preconditions, children, and elderly. In the rural Interior of America, medical emergencies often require air travel by charter for medical care, which contributes to elevated health care costs for rural villages. Baselines of aerosol and meteorological surface data are vital for mitigation of air pollution, and any cost-efficient implementation of emission-control measures, policies, and intelligent decision-making processes. Such baselines can help identify sources, and direct the search for emission-control measures to mitigate health adverse air quality. Recognizing the critical need of a baseline for improvement of human health, quality of life, conservation of prosperity, and ecosystem preservation in a rapidly changing world, the Tribes in the Yukon Flats, Alaska decided to step up to fill a gap in atmospheric n...

Farm products’ drying is a subject of a great importance. It is an adequate means to ensure the overproduction conservation and for economic development. It is known that air parameters such as temperature, velocity, the exposure time of the product have an important role on the dried product quality. In this paper, the authors proposed an optimized process for farm product convective drying. Above and beyond the influence of the air parameters on foodstuff convective drying, this work showed that product internal parameters and drying proceedings must be taken into account during the evaluation of their convective drying. In this study, the okra ( Abelmoschus esculentus ) was considered as foodstuff product having complex constitution and structure. Okras used in the present work are obtained in a local market of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Some of them were carried in France, wrapped with blotting paper and store in a refrigerator. A convective dryer was used in Universi...

Numerous studies have evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of interventions to promote exercise and physical activity, and commonly the studies rely on the constructs of Self-efficacy theory and Theory of Planned Behavior, but few have used these theories to predict adherence to a walking program in corporate wellness setting. The health and economic benefits of workplace wellness programs are well founded, but the favorable results only occur when employees choose to participate and adhere to these programs. And walking as exercise has been highlighted as a free and relatively low-impact form of exercise from which many health benefits can be accrued. The objective of this study was to use the Theory of Planned Behavior and Self-Efficacy Theory to predict whether participants adhered to a corporate wellness walking program. The sample consisted of 110 faculty and staff at a private university who enrolled in a walking program through the university’s wellness center. Pa...

Dystocia is defined as delayed or difficult parturition. General causes are fetal-maternal size mismatch, fetal malpresentation and maternal-related causes. It has a direct negative impact on calves and dams. The aim of this prospective study was to collect cases of dystocia in 4 rural veterinary practices in Switzerland over 12 months, focusing on calf vitality. During 12 months, data of 573 assisted parturitions were collected. The age of the cows involved ranged from 2 to 17 years old (median 5.2 yr) with a median gestation length of 288 days. The veterinarians filled out a short questionnaire after each assisted calving. The position of the calf, feto-maternal disproportion, uterine inertia, uterine torsion, and applied calving assistance (including number of persons pulling) were registered by the veterinarians, including drugs administered. Additionally, information about the number of fetuses, gender, the estimated birth weight as well as the vitality and malformations...

Soil salinity refers to the amount of salts in the soil and it can be estimated by measuring the electrical conductivity (EC) of an extracted soil solution. It is considered an important component of ecosystem degradation in the world’s dry lands and can lead to desertification and other form of land degradation, such as salinization.   Some extensive research efforts have been made by international scholars to monitor and predict saline soils using remote sensing and statistical analysis methods. In this study, the authors would explore the potential multivariate statistical analysis, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis to identify the most correlated spectral indices and rapidly predict salt affected soils. Sixty six soil samples were collected for ground truth data in the investigated region. A high correlation was found between electrical conductivity and the spectral indices from near infrared and short-wave infrared spectrum...

A fall consists usually in an involuntary and unexpected event, which may be recurrent in the same individual and often entail consequences for the victim, the caregiver and the society. The falls result from a complex interaction of multiple risk factors: biological, behavioral, environmental and socioeconomic factors. And the frequency of falls is even greater in elderly patients after hospitalization. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of falls in the three months after discharge and risk factors in elderly patients.  In this prospective study, 100 patients over 65 admitted to an Internal Medicine Ward participated. A questionnaire was conducted during the period of hospitalization where the following information and clinical variables were collected: gender, age, onset diagnosis, personal history and usual medication. Three months after discharge, a telephone interview was conducted and the data reported in the fall diaries were questioned. Follow-up information ...

Patient related cosmetic outcomes following breast cancer surgery is increasingly being reported as an integral part of patient satisfaction reported outcome. While it is patients actual outcomes that are key, incorporation of health care providers’ assessment of outcome in a combined approach may add benefit. This study described the evaluation of early outcomes of a combined cosmetic assessment programme following breast conservation surgery (BCS).  An ethically approved prospective study was conducted at Letterkenny University Hospital and a 15-month timeframe was chosen. All consecutive patients undergoing conservative breast surgery with complete local excision, from July 2015 to October 2016 were entered into the study. Patients undergoing mastectomy and reconstruction with either implant or autologous tissue were not included. 41 patients undergoing BCS were analyzed. Objective and subjective cosmetic evaluations were carried out. Assessments used were the Breast C...

Cotton ( Gossypium spp.) is an important crop grown throughout the world. It is an important source of fiber and is one of the few crops with unique leaf shapes: 1) normal, 2) sub-okra, 3) okra, and 4) super-okra. Leaf shape plays a major role in cotton survival. Palmer amaranth ( Amaranthus palmeri  S. Wats.) is a major weed affecting cotton production systems in the southern U.S. In ideal environmental conditions, it grows faster and outcompetes cotton plants for available resources, and it has been linked to a reduction in cotton yield. H yperspectral remote sensing has shown promise as a tool for crop weed discrimination, and there is a growing interest in using this technology for identifying weeds in cotton production systems. Currently, there is no research available comparing the canopy hyperspectral profiles of okra and super-okra leaf cotton to the canopy hyperspectral profile of Palmer amaranth . Also, no information is available on which regions of the spect...

Hip arthroscopy is a surgical procedure that allows doctors to view the hip joint without making a large incision (cut) through the skin and other soft tissues. This surgery is notable for significant improvement in patient reported outcomes, with high patient satisfaction. However, despite the minimally invasive nature of arthroscopy, patients may experience notable pain post-procedure.  In this paper, a retrospective analysis was performed for 92 patients who underwent hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) with labral tear under general anesthesia (G) with fascia-iliaca block (64 patients) or regional anesthesia (R) with fascia-iliaca block (28 patients) from March 9, 2016 to April 9, 2018. Data collected included: demographics, diagnosis, ASA status, time in surgery, medications administered, type of anesthesia administered, pain scores, use of straight catheter, and time in  Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU ) .  The results showed that patient...

Accurate estimation of life expectancy in terminally ill patients with cancer is important from both the clinician’s and the patient’s perspectives. However, s tudies have revealed that clinicians do not accurately estimate the time to death, making it difficult for the patients and their families to prepare themselves. Although several indices and scores exist for evaluating the life expectancy, most of these include subjective components in the calculation, such as the presence of edema, anorexia, or delirium, which makes the objective assessment prone to inaccuracy. In this paper, the authors aimed to evaluate the value of the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) for accurately estimating the life expectancy of patients with end-stage oral cancer. A longitudinal section study was performed after obtaining ethical approval and in-formed consent. Fifteen patients (12 men; mean age: 71.7 years old) who died of oral cancer between 2005 and 2014 (the terminal group) were included. T...

Studies have shown that the body composition of recently produced broiler chickens has changed as compared to birds of earlier decades. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the nutrient content is considerably affected by the age and gender of the birds. However, research on the nutrient deposition in the whole body and body fractions of modern fast growing meat-type broiler chickens during the entire growth period is scarce. In this paper, two consecutive growth studies were conducted to investigate the age-dependent nutrient and energy deposition in male and female meat-type chickens (Ross 308) based on feather and feather-free body fraction data determined according to the comparative slaughter technique. The study was conducted with 90 male and 90 female broiler chickens. Freshly hatched meat-type broiler chicks (ROSS 308) were obtained from a commercial hatchery and allocated initially in a large floor pen on wood shavings.  Both the starter (day ...