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Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq) is cultivated predominantly in the Volta, Central and Ashanti regions of Ghana and commonly utilised in most local dishes. Majority of consumers prefer the dried form of the pepper. However, farmers are usually confronted with the challenge of obtaining low-cost, locally fabricated dryers that can efficiently dry agricultural produce while mitigating quality and safety concerns. In this study, a model of the newly designed chimney solar dryer by the Horticulture Innovation laboratory of the University of California, Davis, in the United States of America, for crop drying in developing countries was constructed and its performance evaluated in comparison to open sun drying. Habanero pepper was used as a test crop. Subsequently, microbial analysis was carried out on the dried products. The mean chimney dryer temperature (46.4[degrees]C) was found to be higher than the ambient temperature (36.2[degrees]C). The relative humidity in the chimney solar dryer and the ambient ranged from 25% to 68% and 26% to 83%, respectively. During the period of the drying experiment, mean maximum solar insolation of 823.18 W/[m.sup.2] was recorded at 11.30 am while a mean minimum solar insolation of 107.84 W/[m.sup.2] was recorded at 4.30 pm. The solar-dried and sun-dried pepper recorded total drying time of 35 h and 55 h respectively. The mean performance coefficient of the chimney solar dryer was determined to be 1.21 which gives an indication of a high dryer performance. The mean yeasts and moulds counts of the solar-dried and sun-dried pepper were 4.30 x [10.sup.4] cfu/g and 2.52 x [10.sup.5] cfu/g, respectively. Also, the Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli counts were Key words: chimney, habanero pepper, open sun drying, performance, quality, solar dryer, INTRODUCTION Postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables in Africa ranges from 30% to 80% [1, 2]. This is largely due to the lack of effective postharvest systems for handling, processing [...] more...

Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq) is cultivated predominantly in the Volta, Central and Ashanti regions of Ghana and commonly utilised in most local dishes. Majority of consumers prefer the dried form of the pepper. However, farmers are usually confronted with the challenge of obtaining low-cost, locally fabricated dryers that can efficiently dry agricultural produce while mitigating quality and safety concerns. In this study, a model of the newly designed chimney solar dryer by the Horticulture Innovation laboratory of the University of California, Davis, in the United States of America, for crop drying in developing countries was constructed and its performance evaluated in comparison to open sun drying. Habanero pepper was used as a test crop. Subsequently, microbial analysis was carried out on the dried products. The mean chimney dryer temperature (46.4°C) was found to be higher than the ambient temperature (36.2°C). The relative humidity in the chimney solar dryer and the ambient ranged from 25% to 68% and 26% to 83%, respectively. During the period of the drying experiment, mean maximum solar insolation of 823.18 W/m2 was recorded at 11.30 am while a mean minimum solar insolation of 107.84 W/m2 was recorded at 4.30 pm. The solar-dried and sun-dried pepper recorded total drying time of 35 h and 55 h respectively. The mean performance coefficient of the chimney solar dryer was determined to be 1.21 which gives an indication of a high dryer performance. The mean yeasts and moulds counts of the solar-dried and sun-dried pepper were 4.30 x 104 cfu/g and 2.52 x 105 cfu/g, respectively. Also, the Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli counts were <10 cfu/g for samples in both drying media. In conclusion, the chimney solar dryer was found to have performed better than open sun drying with shorter drying time and better quality of the dried product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Aim: To explore nursing staff's experiences of using manual (physical) restraint within inpatient adolescent mental health care., Design: This was a descriptive phenomenological study., Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 nursing staff between March 2021 and July 2021. The nursing staff were recruited from four inpatient adolescent mental health hospitals across three National Health Service Trusts in England. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive approach to thematic analysis., Results: Four themes were generated from the analysis: (1) it needs to be done sometimes; (2) it's not a nice thing to do; (3) it does not really damage the therapeutic relationship; and (4) importance of team support. Despite strongly reporting that it was sometimes necessary to manually restrain young people for substantial safety reasons, participants spoke with dislike about its use, and described consequential aversive experiences of emotional distress, patient aggression, pain and injury, and physical exhaustion. Participants reported relying on each other for emotional and practical support. Three participants reported observing premature restraint use by non-permanent staff., Conclusion: The findings detail a paradoxical picture of the nursing staff's experiences where restraint is experienced as psychologically and physically aversive yet deemed as sometimes necessary to prevent significant harm., Reporting Method: The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist was used to guide reporting., Impact: This study suggests a need for the targeting of non-permanent staff for restraint minimization interventions, and highlights how the treatment of non-permanent staff by permanent staff may contribute to avoidable restraint practices. The findings indicate several ways in which the staff-young person therapeutic relationship can be preserved in the context of restraint. However, this needs to be treated with caution given that young people's voices were missing from this study., Patient or Public Contribution: This study focused on nursing staff's experiences., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.) more...

Manual restraint is a hands-on type of physical restraint used to prevent harm to service users and staff, and to administer necessary treatments. This article reports on a review and meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature on healthcare staff's experiences of using manual restraint. Three electronic databases (CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO) were systematically searched, and 19 studies were included. Thematic synthesis was used to synthesize the findings. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist was used to appraise study quality. The synthesis generated one overarching interpretive theme, "unpleasant but necessary," and five subthemes: "maintaining safety triumphs all," "emotional distress," "significance of coping," "feeling conflicted," and "depletion." Seven studies indicated that, from staff perspectives, manual restraint was not always used as a last resort. Healthcare staff experience manual restraint as a psychologically and physically unpleasant practice, yet paradoxically deem its use to be sometimes necessary to keep themselves and service users safe from harm. The findings indicate a need for healthcare staff support, post-restraint debriefing meetings with service users, and the implementation of manual restraint minimization programs in healthcare settings., (© 2023 The Authors. Nursing & Health Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.) more...

Manual restraint, a type of physical restraint, is a common practice in inpatient mental health settings linked to adverse physical and psychological staff and patient outcomes. However, little is known about the use of manual restraint for compulsory nasogastric feeding of patients with anorexia nervosa within inpatient eating disorder settings. The present phenomenological study aimed to explore nursing assistants' experiences of administering manual restraint for compulsory nasogastric feeding of young persons with anorexia nervosa. The study followed COREQ guidelines. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight nursing assistants from one UK inpatient child and adolescent eating disorder service. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were extracted: An unpleasant practice, importance of coping, and becoming desensitized and sensitized. Nursing assistants commonly experienced emotional distress, physical exhaustion, physical injury and physical aggression as a result of their manual restraint use. Nursing assistants appeared to cope with their distress by talking with colleagues and young persons who were further in their recovery, and by detaching themselves during manual restraint incidents. The findings highlight that the use of manual restraint for compulsory nasogastric feeding of young persons with anorexia nervosa in the UK is a highly distressing practice for nursing assistants. It is therefore important that sufficient supervision, support, and training are made available to staff working in these settings., (© 2020 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.) more...