Strategic Integration of Wind Energy in Smart Cities: Complementing Hydropower Capabilities

The urgency of sustainable urban development has propelled wind energy and hydropower to the forefront of smart city initiatives. This article explores the strategic integration of wind energy and hydropower in urban settings, emphasizing their potential to mutually reinforce each other. Wind energy, derived from atmospheric kinetic power, and hydropower, generated by the gravitational force of flowing water, offer distinct advantages. When thoughtfully combined, they enhance energy stability, grid reliability, and peak energy demand fulfillment. The primary advantage of this integration lies in the natural synchronicity of wind and hydropower, addressing the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. This collaboration reduces greenhouse gas emissions, environmental impact, and enhances energy security, economic growth, and urban resilience. Through case studies and innovations, this review underlines the promising future of wind-hydropower integration in smart cities, underscoring the need for continued innovation, policy support, education, awareness, and partnerships. In summary, strategic wind and hydropower integration has the potential to be a cornerstone of smart city development and the global shift to cleaner, more resilient energy sources

Social Determinants of Stroke Hospitalization and Mortality in United States’ Counties

(1) Background: Stroke incidence and outcomes are influenced by socioeconomic status. There is a paucity of reported population-level studies regarding these determinants. The goal of this ecological analysis was to determine the county-level associations of social determinants of stroke hospitalization and death rates in the United States. (2) Methods: Publicly available data as of 9 April 2021, for the socioeconomic factors and outcomes, was extracted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outcomes of interest were “all stroke hospitalization rates per 1000 Medicare beneficiaries” (SHR) and “all stroke death rates per 100,000 population” (SDR). We used a multivariate binomial generalized linear mixed model after converting the outcomes to binary based on their median values. (3) Results: A total of 3226 counties/county-equivalents of the states and territories in the US were analyzed. Heart disease prevalence (odds ratio, OR = 2.03, p \u3c 0.001), blood pressure medication nonadherence (OR = 2.02, p \u3c 0.001), age-adjusted obesity (OR = 1.24, p = 0.006), presence of hospitals with neurological services (OR = 1.9, p \u3c 0.001), and female head of household (OR = 1.32, p = 0.021) were associated with high SHR while cost of care per capita for Medicare patients with heart disease (OR = 0.5, p \u3c 0.01) and presence of hospitals (OR = 0.69, p \u3c 0.025) were associated with low SHR. Median household income (OR = 0.6, p \u3c 0.001) and park access (OR = 0.84, p = 0.016) were associated with low SDR while no college degree (OR = 1.21, p = 0.049) was associated with high SDR. (4) Conclusions: Several socioeconomic factors (e.g., education, income, female head of household) were found to be associated with stroke outcomes. Additional research is needed to investigate intermediate and potentially modifiable factors that can serve as targeted interventions

Predictors of Post-Stroke Depression: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Despite reports of a high incidence and various predictors of post-stroke depression (PSD), the underdiagnosis and undertreatment rates of PSD are still high. This study aimed to examine the incidence of depression in stroke patients and identify factors associated with PSD. This was a retrospective cohort study on ischemic stroke patients from the Geisinger Neuroscience Ischemic Stroke (GNSIS) registry. The following statistical analyses were performed to predict PSD in the studied population: a Kaplan–Meier estimator and a Cox proportional hazards model. A total of 5882 patients were included in the study. The median age at the time of an ischemic stroke was 72 years and 56% were males. A total of 294 patients were diagnosed with PSD within one year of a stroke. The cumulative incidence of depression was found to be 6.4% (95% CI 5.7–7.1%) at one year for the entire cohort. Women were found to have a higher risk of PSD than men (HR for women = 1.47, 95% CI 1.18–1.85, p = 0.001). A history of prior stroke (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.18–2.11, p = 0.002) and myocardial infarction (HR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.05–2.06, p = 0.025) were associated with PSD. Medicaid patients had a higher risk for PSD (HR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.5–3.12, p < 0.001) than those with commercial insurance or health maintenance organization plans. Our findings showed that women, patients with a history of prior stroke or myocardial infarction, and with Medicaid insurance were more likely to develop PSD. Through an observational study on the EHR data, we confirmed that chronic stress, including financial and health-related stress, irrespective of age, significantly increased the risk for PSD

PROP1 gene mutations in a 36-year-old female presenting with psychosis

Combined pituitary hormonal deficiency (CPHD) is a rare disease that results from mutations in genes coding for transcription factors that regulate the differentiation of pituitary cells. PROP1 gene mutations are one of the etiological diagnoses of congenital panhypopituitarism, however symptoms vary depending on phenotypic expression. We present a case of psychosis in a 36-year-old female with congenital panhypopituitarism who presented with paranoia, flat affect and ideas of reference without a delirious mental state, which resolved with hormone replacement and antipsychotics. Further evaluation revealed that she had a homozygous mutation of PROP1 gene. In summary, compliance with hormonal therapy for patients with hypopituitarism appears to be effective for the prevention and treatment of acute psychosis symptoms

Role of multislice computed tomography in evaluation and management of intestinal obstruction

The aims and objectives of this study were: i) to evaluate the efficacy of computed tomography (CT) imaging in diagnosing the presence, level, degree, and cause of intestinal obstruction, and the role of CT in detecting presence of complications; ii) to assess impact of CT in decision making and management (surgical/conservative); iii) to correlate CT findings with intra operative findings whenever possible. A prospective study of 40 patients presented in outpatient/emergency department with features suggestive of intestinal obstruction. Multislice contrast enhanced computed tomography of whole abdomen was done in all patients after preliminary investigations. Whenever indicated, patients were explored. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the efficacy of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in diagnosing intestinal obstruction and its complications. Out of 40, 30 patients underwent exploratory laparotomy and it was found that MDCT was 85% sensitive and 70% specific in diagnosing bowel obstruction. Association between MDCT findings suggestive of obstruction and intra-operative findings turn out to be significant (P=0.003). MDCT findings were consistent with intraoperative findings in 22 out of 30 patients (73%). MDCT is sensitive and specific in determining the presence of bowel obstruction and should be recommended for patients with suspected bowel obstruction because it affects outcome in these patients

Dropwise Condensation in Ambient on a Depleted Lubricant-Infused Surface

Durability of a lubricant-infused surface (LIS) is critical for heat transfer, especially in condensation-based applications. Although LIS promotes dropwise condensation, each departing droplet condensate acts as a lubricant-depleting agent due to the formation of wetting ridge and cloaking layer around the condensate, thus gradually leading to drop pinning on the underlying rough topography. Condensation heat transfer further deteriorates in the presence of non-condensable gases (NCGs) requiring special experimental arrangements to eliminate NCGs due to a decrease in the availability of nucleation sites. To address these issues while simultaneously improving heat-transfer performance of LIS in condensation-based systems, we report fabrication of both fresh LIS and a lubricant-depleted LIS using silicon porous nanochannel wicks as an underlying substrate. Strong capillarity in the nanochannels helps retain silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxane) on the surface even after it is severely depleted under tap water. The effect of oil viscosity was investigated for drop mobility and condensation heat transfer under ambient conditions, i.e., in the presence of NCGs. While fresh LIS prepared using 5 cSt silicone oil exhibited a low roll-off angle (∼1°) and excellent water drop (5 μL) sliding velocity ∼66 mm s–1, it underwent rapid depletion as compared to higher viscosity oils. Condensation performed on depleted nanochannel LIS with higher viscosity oil (50 cSt) resulted in a heat-transfer coefficient (HTC) of ∼2.33 kW m–2 K–1, which is a ∼162% improvement over flat Si-LIS (50 cSt). Such LIS promote fast drop shedding as is evident from the little change in the fraction of drops with diameter <500 μm from ∼98% to only ∼93% after 4 h of condensation. Improvement in HTC was also seen in condensation experiments conducted for 3 days where a steady HTC of ∼1.46 kW m–2 K–1 was achieved over the last 2 days. The ability of reported LIS to maintain long-term hydrophobicity and dropwise condensation will aid in designing condensation-based systems with improved heat-transfer performance