Modeling of Solar Drying Economics Using Life Cycle Savings (L.C.S) Method

Major goals of industrialization include but are not limited to provision of employment, establishing a platform for overall national development and improving the capital income of whoever is involved, which invariably improve the overall standard of living. A better pre-visibility study must encompass a well analyzed economic appraisal of the plan. The law of mass conservation was applied to develop computer software with a view to analyzing the major preliminary economic indexes of industrial solar drying in both developed and rapidly developing economy. The present work used the life cycle cost method to investigate the solar process economics. In the paper three major geographical locations in Nigeria (i.e. Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt) were selected and their respective economic appraisal was investigated. Sample simulations revealed that, at a realistic initial moisture content of 30 (% wet basis) of the agricultural produce, economic analysis of over 20 years shows that recommended solar collector area of 85.46 m2, 80.71 m2 and 75.96 m2 supplied about 67%, 88% and 55.8% of the annual energy needed for Ibadan, Kano and Port-Harcourt respectivel

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Numerical simulation of steady state heat conduction in a slab with non-isothermal boundaries using Markov Chain Technique

Numerical techniques such as finite difference and finite element have played a major role in analysis of heat transfer in solid medium. The probability methods later developed have been hampered by their slow execution time. This has however been improved upon using Markov chain technique; however analysis has been limited to isothermal boundary cases. In this study Markov chain technique was applied to analyse steady state heat transfer in non-isothermal boundaries. The conventional Markov chain equations were modified in order to handle adiabatic and convective boundaries as well as domain with internal heat generation. The developed procedure was used to determine temperature distribution inside solid domain with non-isothermal boundaries. The results obtained were compared with finite difference solutions. The execution time for the developed procedure was also compared with that using finite difference technique.The results using the Markov chain technique were very close to the finite difference solutions. The execution time using Markov chain technique was shorter than that obtained using the finite difference technique.It is thus concluded that the developed Markov Chain technique could be used for analysis of steady state heat conduction in solid domain with non-isothermal boundaries.Keywords: Heat Conduction, Probability method, Non-Isothermal, Markov Chai

Application of a modified Monte Carlo method for the simulation of heat conduction in a rectangular slab

Monte Carlo method has been used to study heat conduction problems. It is grid-free inimplementation, unlike the conventional Finite Element and Finite Difference Method. However forMonte Carlo method, solutions of desired field of interest can only be obtained one after the other,unlike the others that can be obtained simultaneously. Therefore a modified method has beendeveloped which benefits from the simplicity of the Monte Carlo method and also provides full fielddescription of temperature at one computer run.The Modified Monte Carlo first obtains sample values of temperature in the domain of interestusing the conventional Monte Carlo technique. Thereafter a histogram table is constructed which isthen used to predict values for the other parts of the field unknown. The number of clusters obtainedfrom the prediction is noted. The prediction that has minimal clusters is adjudged the best. Thetechnique was tested on grid configurations such as 3 x 3 and 4 x 4 grids. Only isothermal steady-state2-D cases were considered. When compared with the results of ordinary Monte Carlo method, the modified techniqueincurred a maximum error of 4% for 4 x 4 grids. Larger grids were obtained by seamless stitching ofsmaller grids and as such no growth in errors was noticed. For the 3 x 3 grids, the sample size wasabout 55% while only 25% of the domain was sampled using 4 x 4 grids. Using the modified technique, the errors incurred even with the 4 x 4 grids was only 4%. Thetechnique can therefore be used for simulation of steady-state heat conduction

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with paediatric cancer in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, observational cohort study

OBJECTIVES: Paediatric cancer is a leading cause of death for children. Children in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) were four times more likely to die than children in high-income countries (HICs). This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the delivery of healthcare services worldwide, and exacerbated the disparity in paediatric cancer outcomes between LMICs and HICs. DESIGN: A multicentre, international, collaborative cohort study. SETTING: 91 hospitals and cancer centres in 39 countries providing cancer treatment to paediatric patients between March and December 2020. PARTICIPANTS: Patients were included if they were under the age of 18 years, and newly diagnosed with or undergoing active cancer treatment for Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms' tumour, sarcoma, retinoblastoma, gliomas, medulloblastomas or neuroblastomas, in keeping with the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All-cause mortality at 30 days and 90 days. RESULTS: 1660 patients were recruited. 219 children had changes to their treatment due to the pandemic. Patients in LMICs were primarily affected (n=182/219, 83.1%). Relative to patients with paediatric cancer in HICs, patients with paediatric cancer in LMICs had 12.1 (95% CI 2.93 to 50.3) and 7.9 (95% CI 3.2 to 19.7) times the odds of death at 30 days and 90 days, respectively, after presentation during the COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.001). After adjusting for confounders, patients with paediatric cancer in LMICs had 15.6 (95% CI 3.7 to 65.8) times the odds of death at 30 days (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected paediatric oncology service provision. It has disproportionately affected patients in LMICs, highlighting and compounding existing disparities in healthcare systems globally that need addressing urgently. However, many patients with paediatric cancer continued to receive their normal standard of care. This speaks to the adaptability and resilience of healthcare systems and healthcare workers globally

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit