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Background: Thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke has recently become available in India but its success depends on initiating the treatment in the narrow therapeutic time window. There is commonly a delay of several hours before patients with acute stroke seek medical attention. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted to assess the factors influencing this delay in admission of acute stroke cases. 134cases (101 males, 33 females) of acute stroke that arrived within 72 hours at our hospital casualty were recruited. A standardized structured questionnaire was given to patients or their attendants. Results: The median time to casualty arrival was 9 hours with 13.4% cases arriving within 3 hours and 36.5 % cases within 6 hours. Distances from hospital, referral, belief in myths and alternate medicine and low threat perception of symptoms of stroke were independent factors associated with delay in arrival. Living in city, day time onset, urgency shown by attendant, availability of transport and presence of family history were associated with early arrival. There was no correlation with patients' or attendants' sex, educational status, history of previous stroke or transient ischemic attack, subtype or severity of stroke, time of stroke and availability of transport. 134 patients (65.7% were from rural population, 55.22%-smokers, 46.76%-alcoholics) with mean (SD) age of 53.83+/-18.02years [significantly lower in females (mean difference=9.73years p=0.002)], were admitted and diagnosed to have stroke. 87.3% had first episode of stroke and 12.7 had more than one episode of stroke. ICF rate was 26.1%. ICF rate has no relation with age (p=0.516), sex (p=0.460), number of episodes (0.795), underlying hypertension (p=0.905). Odds of diabetics dying were 12 times higher than non-diabetics. Inpatient mortality was also significantly higher in smokers compared with non-smokers (p=0.004), in patients with right-sided compared with left-sided hemiplegic (p=0.029) and who couldn’t afford computed tomography (CT) scan (p=0.007). Kaplan Meier curve in Image-1 shows the survival following admission to emergency ward. Conclusion: Adequate measures need to be taken to improve the public awareness of stroke and the role of local doctors. Our study has shown that active smokers, involvement of the right side and non performance of CT were independent predictors of mortality which have not been shown earlier. Also, we found that diabetes mellitus is independent predictor of mortality in stroke, which has been seen in earlier studies too.

This paper details the design process, fabrication, optimisation and early-stage performance testing of Luminescent and Plasmonic Luminescent Solar Concentrator (LSC & PLSC) devices. A PLSC is a novel approach to solar concentrator technologies that utilizes the principles of luminescence and plasmonics to enhance the devices' solar energy conversion efficiency. This research analyses various mould dimensions, materials and lightguide fabrication methodologies to ensure equivalent LSC/PLSC devices were created in a reproducible method. The optimisation was an iterative process throughout the production and testing stages after which a 100 × 100 × 5 mm PLSC was identified as the optimal for a rooftop installation. To ensure consistency in production as well as assessing the practicality of PLSC installations for building integration, performance testing has been conducted in both indoor and outdoor environments. Additionally, the lifespan of the devices are currently being investigated through ongoing performance evaluations. The incorporation of a reflective backplate has resulted in device efficiency improvements between 14–18% during indoor tests and was consequently included for all devices during outdoor performance analysis. Power conversion efficiencies of 2.3% and 1.7% have been recorded in sub-optimal conditions as well as concentration ratios of 11 and 9 for the PLSC and LSC devices respectively.

As the world strives towards a low-carbon future, nearly-zero energy buildings (NZEB) have been the goal to reduce carbon emissions. Artificial lighting is estimated to consume as high as 40% of the total energy consumption in a commercial building. By utilising daylighting, which is the practice of allowing natural light into a building, energy consumption by artificial lighting can be reduced. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) can act as a collector and waveguide to transport outdoor light into the building through total internal reflection. Besides, LSCs absorb a part of the solar spectrum and shift them to different wavelengths through up-conversion or down-conversion. Thus, the output spectrum can be manipulated for the desired indoor applications. Circadian rhythm is the periodic variations in behaviour that follows a 24-hour cycle, which is mainly regulated by light response. A regulated circadian rhythm is important for a healthy life, whereas a disturbed circadian rhythm can lead to health issues such as insomnia and mood disorders. There has been a consensus that our circadian rhythm strongly responds to shorter wavelength light, corroborated in studies. Thus, manipulating the output light of LSCs to contain larger proportions of light with shorter wavelengths could enhance circadian regulation. LSC devices have the potential to transport sufficient daylight up to 5m deep into the building, achieving areas beyond the reach of windows. Thus, LSCs can serve as a tool for daylighting purposes, regulating circadian rhythm and providing sufficient light for comfortable indoor visibility.

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) ability to concentrate both direct and diffuse solar irradiation exhibits exciting potential as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) in urban environments. As BIPV elements, LSCs are often imagined as semi-transparent solar windows which can be integrated seamlessly into a building's façade and architectural applications as solar harvesting devices. One application explored in this research is a solar geodesic dome panel for an ongoing community greenhouse development in Derry, N-Ireland. A 4V and 2 m diameter geodesic dome were modelled in Revit, and an Insight Solar Analysis model optimised the LSC-geodesic dome and calculated the solar potential. The triangular LSC panel of 875 cm2 was modelled using raytracing software to obtain efficiency parameters. Subsequently, fabricated using a luminescent acrylic 6T66 waveguide, edge-mounted silicon solar cells and tested outdoors for 29 h. A power conversion efficiency of 0.60% compared to theoretical power conversion efficiency of 1.49% was measured. In the optimum location of the dome, the LSC panel would produce 444.22 Wh and, overall, 74.2 kWh in a year. While this power generation is essential, semi-transparent LSC-geodesic dome panel transmission can downshift solar radiation in the photosynthetically active radiation range, better suited for plant growth and the greenhouse effect.