Designing and fabrication of an installation PV solar modules tilting platform

The optimum tilt-angle of a fixed photovoltaic solar panel is very important during the installation, in order to best exploit the accessible output power efficiency of the panel. The output power effectiveness of a PV solar collector is profoundly affected by its tilt-angle to the horizontal and its orientation. This is because of the detail that the sun’s angle varies at every point of time and location. The solar photovoltaic tilting platform plays a dynamic role in the installation of the solar photovoltaic panel. From one perspective, it protects the solar panel from mechanical pressures that can arise from the wind movement and the hand; it provides means of adjustment for the solar panel. The proposed solar photovoltaic tilting platform was designed for an adjustable angle capacity oscillating from 0? to 40?; the materials used for the construction of the tilting platform are capable to withstand a load of 45kg and resist a temperature of -50? F to 150? F under a maximum wind force of 3.78N. The numerous mechanisms of the PV tilting platform prototype were tested, the stability, strength, easy titling, and overall performance of the PV tilting platform were declared as satisfactory

The influence of sustainable reinforcing particulates on the density, hardness and corrosion resistance of AA 6063 matrix composites

The need for the fabrication of sustainable aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) is being sought after as practical alternatives to conventional metals and their alloys. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of sustainable materials on the mechanical, physical and corrosion resistant properties of AA 6063. The weight fraction of the hybrid reinforcements was varied at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 wt.%. For each variation, the fly ash and eggshells were weighed equally. The fabrication route selected was stir casting. The analysis of the density showed that the property decreased with increasing weight fraction of the hybrid reinforcements. Evaluation of the microhardness revealed hardness values of 78.13, 81.19, 81.54, 82.14, and 86.71 HV for the base metal, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 wt.% samples respectively. The corrosion resistant properties were studied in 3.5 wt.% NaCl medium. The investigation showed that the reinforced AMCs exhibited improved corrosion resistance compared to the base metal. However, the 7.5 wt.% sample exhibited the least corrosion rate of 8.649 X 10-5 g/h

Prevalence and Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Isolated from Healthy Inhabitants of Uturu Rural Communities, Abia State, Nigeria

The antimicrobial resistance ability and extraordinary virulence of community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus which allow it infect healthy persons are major medical issues worldwide. A total of 84 (nose and ear swabs, urine) samples were collected from healthy individuals and screened for Staphylococcus aureus using standard microbiological techniques. Susceptibility testing of the isolates to oxacillin and to other conventional antimicrobial sensitivity discs of some antibiotics readily accessible in the study area was done using the discs diffusion method. Staphylococcus aureus was grown from 69(82.1%) samples while 51(60.7%) of the cultures were methicillin-resistant. The 51(60.7%) community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates showed a percentage resistance pattern which included 100% resistance to ampicillin followed by amoxicillin (64.7%)?  vancomycin (35.3%)? erythromycin (19.6%)? ceftriaxone (17.6%)? gentamycin (13.7%)? ciprofloxacin (11.8%)? ofloxacin (7.8%). High resistance to vancomycin (35.3%) was recorded in the study area. Ofloxacin was the best antibiotic of choice in the treatment of disorders associated with community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the study area. Other antibiotics such as gentamycin, and ciprofloxacin proved to be potent in the management of MRSA infections. Ten solates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus obtained showed multidrug resistance to at least 4 antibiotics tested and this necessitates caution in the prescription of antibiotics without proper indication. The high prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the study area is of great public health importance and calls for effective measures including public enlightenment to discourage indiscriminate use of antimicrobials. Keywords: Community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, prevalence, antibiotics susceptibility pattern, ofloxacin, Nigeria

What does it mean to be affiliated with care?: Delphi consensus on the definition of unaffiliation and specialist in sickle cell disease

Accruing evidence reveals best practices for how to help individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); yet, the implementation of these evidence-based practices in healthcare settings is lacking. The Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC) is a national consortium that uses implementation science to identify and address barriers to care in SCD. The SCDIC seeks to understand how and why patients become unaffiliated from care and determine strategies to identify and connect patients to care. A challenge, however, is the lack of agreed-upon definition for what it means to be unaffiliated and what it means to be a SCD expert provider . In this study, we conducted a Delphi process to obtain expert consensus on what it means to be an unaffiliated patient with SCD and to define an SCD specialist, as no standard definition is available. Twenty-eight SCD experts participated in three rounds of questions. Consensus was defined as 80% or more of respondents agreeing. Experts reached consensus that an individual with SCD who is unaffiliated from care is someone who has not been seen by a sickle cell specialist in at least a year. A sickle cell specialist was defined as someone with knowledge and experience in SCD. Having knowledge means: being knowledgeable of the 2014 NIH Guidelines, Evidence-Based Management of SCD , trained in hydroxyurea management and transfusions, trained on screening for organ damage in SCD, trained in pain management and on SCD emergencies, and is aware of psychosocial and cognitive issues in SCD. Experiences that are expected of a SCD specialist include experience working with SCD patients, mentored by a SCD specialist, regular attendance at SCD conferences, and obtains continuing medical education on SCD every 2 years. The results have strong implications for future research, practice, and policy related to SCD by helping to lay a foundation for an new area of research (e.g., to identify subpopulations of unaffiliation and targeted interventions) and policies that support reaffiliation and increase accessibility to quality care

A Profile of the Northern Cape Province: Demographics, Poverty, Income, Inequality and Unemployment from 2000 till 2007

The Northern Cape agricultural sector is a dynamic and livelihood sustainable sector. Approximately 7% of the Northern Cape value added gross domestic product comes through agriculture and 5.4% of the population in the Northern Cape is working in this sector. There is thus a need for macro-economic research in order to investigate potential and current challenges and opportunities. This paper examines several of these challenges namely demographic compositions, unemployment, income distribution, poverty and inequality. It will provide results from the Labour Force Surveys from 2000 until 2007 with a more in-depth look into 2007. Population and labour force statistics provide the foundation for further analysis. This paper indicates that unemployment is being dominated by the African and Coloured individuals and that employment in the Northern Cape agricultural sector is on a decreasing trend. It shows further that income distribution is highly skewed which leads to high levels of poverty and inequality. Agricultural incomes are lowest across all races compared to non-agricultural incomes except for the White farmers/farm workers who earn more than their counterparts in other sectors. Poverty is extremely high for Coloured workers in the Northern Cape agricultural sector but has decreased since 2000. One of the principal concerns is that of inequality. It shows no improvement since 2000 with a high in-between race inequality and lower within race inequality in the Northern Cape agricultural sector. Throughout the report the Northern Cape agricultural sector is compared to the non-agricultural sector, Northern Cape overall and South Africa for a better understanding of the Northern Cape agricultural sector’s position. This report indicates that the Northern Cape agricultural sector could benefit from intervention and support to correct the present state of decreasing employment, low income, and high poverty and inequality levels

The Novel Methods for Analysis of Exosomes Released from Endothelial Cells and Endothelial Progenitor Cells

Exosomes (EXs) are cell-derived vesicles that mediate cell-cell communication and could serve as biomarkers. Here we described novel methods for purification and phenotyping of EXs released from endothelial cells (ECs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) by combining microbeads and fluorescence quantum dots (Q-dots®) techniques. EXs from the culture medium of ECs and EPCs were isolated and detected with cell-specific antibody conjugated microbeads and second antibody conjugated Q-dots by using nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) system. The sensitivities of the cell origin markers for ECs (CD105, CD144) and EPCs (CD34, KDR) were evaluated. The sensitivity and specificity were determined by using positive and negative markers for EXs (CD63), platelets (CD41), erythrocytes (CD235a), and microvesicles (Annexin V). Moreover, the methods were further validated in particle-free plasma and patient samples. Results showed that anti-CD105/anti-CD144 and anti-CD34/anti-KDR had the highest sensitivity and specificity for isolating and detecting EC-EXs and EPC-EXs, respectively. The methods had the overall recovery rate of over 70% and were able to detect the dynamical changes of circulating EC-EXs and EPC-EXs in acute ischemic stroke. In conclusion, we have developed sensitive and specific microbeads/Q-dots fluorescence NTA methods for EC-EX and EPC-EX isolation and detection, which will facilitate the functional study and biomarker discovery

Nitric oxide increases the enzymatic activity of three ascorbate peroxidase isoforms in soybean root nodules

Ascorbate peroxidase is one of the major enzymes regulating the levels of H2O2 in plants and plays a crucial role in maintaining root nodule redox status. We used fully developed and mature nitrogen fixing root nodules from soybean plants to analyze the effect of exogenously applied nitric oxide, generated from the nitric oxide donor 2,2′-(hydroxynitrosohydrazono)bis-ethanimine, on the enzymatic activity of soybean root nodule ascorbate peroxidase. Nitric oxide caused an increase in the total enzymatic activity of ascorbate peroxidase. The nitric oxide-induced changes in ascorbate peroxidase enzymatic activity were coupled to altered nodule H2O2 content. Further analysis of ascorbate peroxidase enzymatic activity identified three ascorbate peroxidase isoforms for which augmented enzymatic activity occurred in response to nitric oxide. Our results demonstrate that nitric oxide regulates soybean root nodule ascorbate peroxidase activity. We propose a role of nitric oxide in regulating ascorbate-dependent redox status in soybean root nodule tissue

What does it mean to be affiliated with care?: Delphi consensus on the definition of "unaffiliation" and "specialist" in sickle cell disease.

Accruing evidence reveals best practices for how to help individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); yet, the implementation of these evidence-based practices in healthcare settings is lacking. The Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC) is a national consortium that uses implementation science to identify and address barriers to care in SCD. The SCDIC seeks to understand how and why patients become unaffiliated from care and determine strategies to identify and connect patients to care. A challenge, however, is the lack of agreed-upon definition for what it means to be unaffiliated and what it means to be a "SCD expert provider". In this study, we conducted a Delphi process to obtain expert consensus on what it means to be an "unaffiliated patient" with SCD and to define an "SCD specialist," as no standard definition is available. Twenty-eight SCD experts participated in three rounds of questions. Consensus was defined as 80% or more of respondents agreeing. Experts reached consensus that an individual with SCD who is unaffiliated from care is "someone who has not been seen by a sickle cell specialist in at least a year." A sickle cell specialist was defined as someone with knowledge and experience in SCD. Having "knowledge" means: being knowledgeable of the 2014 NIH Guidelines, "Evidence-Based Management of SCD", trained in hydroxyurea management and transfusions, trained on screening for organ damage in SCD, trained in pain management and on SCD emergencies, and is aware of psychosocial and cognitive issues in SCD. Experiences that are expected of a SCD specialist include experience working with SCD patients, mentored by a SCD specialist, regular attendance at SCD conferences, and obtains continuing medical education on SCD every 2 years." The results have strong implications for future research, practice, and policy related to SCD by helping to lay a foundation for an new area of research (e.g., to identify subpopulations of unaffiliation and targeted interventions) and policies that support reaffiliation and increase accessibility to quality care

What does it mean to be affiliated with care?: Delphi consensus on the definition of “unaffiliation” and “specialist” in sickle cell disease

Accruing evidence reveals best practices for how to help individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); yet, the implementation of these evidence-based practices in healthcare settings is lacking. The Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC) is a national consortium that uses implementation science to identify and address barriers to care in SCD. The SCDIC seeks to understand how and why patients become unaffiliated from care and determine strategies to identify and connect patients to care. A challenge, however, is the lack of agreed-upon definition for what it means to be unaffiliated and what it means to be a “SCD expert provider”. In this study, we conducted a Delphi process to obtain expert consensus on what it means to be an “unaffiliated patient” with SCD and to define an “SCD specialist, ” as no standard definition is available. Twenty-eight SCD experts participated in three rounds of questions. Consensus was defined as 80% or more of respondents agreeing. Experts reached consensus that an individual with SCD who is unaffiliated from care is “someone who has not been seen by a sickle cell specialist in at least a year.” A sickle cell specialist was defined as someone with knowledge and experience in SCD. Having “knowledge” means: being knowledgeable of the 2014 NIH Guidelines, “Evidence-Based Management of SCD”, trained in hydroxyurea management and transfusions, trained on screening for organ damage in SCD, trained in pain management and on SCD emergencies, and is aware of psychosocial and cognitive issues in SCD. Experiences that are expected of a SCD specialist include experience working with SCD patients, mentored by a SCD specialist, regular attendance at SCD conferences, and obtains continuing medical education on SCD every 2 years.” The results have strong implications for future research, practice, and policy related to SCD by helping to lay a foundation for an new area of research (e.g., to identify subpopulations of unaffiliation and targeted interventions) and policies that support reaffiliation and increase accessibility to quality care