The Reporting of End of Life and Module D Data and Scenarios in EPD for Building level Life Cycle Assessment

This paper identifies the need for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) to provide End of Life (EoL) and Module D data for products for use in building level Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Although the provision of data for EN 15804 Modules A4-D is not currently mandatory for EPD, many currently report some or all of these. This paper provides an overview of the existing reporting of the end of life (Modules C1-4) and Module D and the types of scenarios used in European EPD. Using examples from existing EPD for two product groups, this paper examines the variation in approaches to scenarios for Module C and D. It explores the difficulties brought by this variation and discusses benefits from using default national scenarios at end of life, but additionally considers the advantages of providing alternative EoL scenarios for products to promote the circular economy

Diseño del programa de vigilancia epidemiológica de riesgo biológico de la clínica Santa Clara Santa Rosa de Cabal

De acuerdo a lo establecido por la Ley Colombiana y los estándares internacionales, en cuanto a la prevención de riesgos laborales, se realiza el presente trabajo para promover la cultura del autocuidado y reducir los incidentes y la accidentalidad presentada en la Clínica Santa Clara del municipio de Santa Rosa de Cabal. La institución se enfrenta a un cambio de sede por motivos administrativos, esta situación genera la necesidad de hacer una revisión y actualización minuciosa en lo que respecta a la matriz de riesgos, teniendo en cuenta la adecuación de los nuevos espacios, y los nuevos posibles riesgos a los que se enfrenta el colaborador en relación a estructuras y ejercicios propios de cada labor.In accordance with the provisions of Colombian Law and international standards, regarding the prevention of occupational hazards, this work is carried out to promote the culture of self-care and reduce the incidents and accidents presented at the Santa Clara Clinic in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Cabal. The institution is facing a change of headquarters for administrative reasons, this situation generates the need to make a thorough review and update regarding the risk matrix, taking into account the adequacy of the new spaces, and the new possible risks which the collaborator faces in relation to structures and exercises of each work.Universidad Libre Seccional Pereira - Facultad Ciencias de la Salud - Especialización en Seguridad y Salud en el Trabaj

Osteoarthritis of the knee after injury to the anterior cruciate ligament or meniscus: the influence of time and age

SummaryThe degree of cartilage changes by arthroscopic and radiologic examination was evaluated in a retrospective, cross-sectional study of 1012 patients with knee complaints at different times after knee injury. Patients were classified by age, sex, trauma date and type of injury. The condition of the cartilage was graded on a 1–10 scale based on findings at arthroscopy and on weight-bearing radiographs. Patients with injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (isolated or combined with injury to meniscus or collateral ligaments) showed the first radiologic signs (joint space narrowing) of osteoarthritis (OA) at an average age of about 40 years, while patients with isolated meniscus injury had the same stage of disease at an average age of about 50 years. Both study groups displayed the first radiologic signs of OA on average about 10 years after the injury and showed increasingly serious arthroscopic and radiologic signs of joint damage with increased time between injury and examination. For patients who sustained an isolated meniscus injury between the ages of 17 and 30, the average time until development of radiologic signs of OA was about 15 years, while for those who had the same injury over the age of 30, the corresponding time interval was only about 5 years. We conclude from this that knee OA becomes increasingly severe with increased time between joint injury and examination. OA changes appear sooner in older patients with knee injury than in the young

Carbon dioxide reduction in the building life cycle: a critical review

The construction industry is known to be a major contributor to environmental pressures due to its high energy consumption and carbon dioxide generation. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions over buildings’ life cycles has prompted academics and professionals to initiate various studies relating to this problem. Researchers have been exploring carbon dioxide reduction methods for each phase of the building life cycle – from planning and design, materials production, materials distribution and construction process, maintenance and renovation, deconstruction and disposal, to the material reuse and recycle phase. This paper aims to present the state of the art in carbon dioxide reduction studies relating to the construction industry. Studies of carbon dioxide reduction throughout the building life cycle are reviewed and discussed, including those relating to green building design, innovative low carbon dioxide materials, green construction methods, energy efficiency schemes, life cycle energy analysis, construction waste management, reuse and recycling of materials and the cradle-to-cradle concept. The review provides building practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of carbon dioxide reduction potential and approaches worldwide. Opportunities for carbon dioxide reduction can thereby be maximised over the building life cycle by creating environmentally benign designs and using low carbon dioxide materials

Mechanical behaviour of pre-stressed spruce timber–timber 2.5-mm-step grooved connections under shearing tests

A smart shear connection system was tested in order to be used in manufactured elements of a lattice of wooden slats and a cross offset. This type of floor element can present advantages both in terms of weight and suitable insulating filler (Adalberth et al. 2001; Kawasaki and Kawai 2006; Kermani and Hairstans 2006; Dodoo et al. 2014). This connection is made to provide a substitute for a glue connection. The shear connection proposed is made by double-sided grooving timber interfaces to form a cross section. A specifically designed test assembly was constructed to measure and guarantee homogeneous contact pressure in interface test specimens. Shear test results are presented and compared in terms of capacity and stiffness with glue connections. The principal conclusions are as follows: the allowable shearing resistance of the grooved timber–timber joints can approximately reach the resistance of glued connections. The stiffness of the joints is improved by increasing the pre-stress applied for holding contact in the assembly. The grooved timber-to-timber joints exhibit non-linear behaviour which dominates the behaviour of the whole system. Therefore, the behaviour of a unit connection must be determined to obtain the mean load-carrying capacity and stiffness of a system with grooved connections

Adherence of hip and knee arthroplasty studies to RSA standardization guidelines

Peer reviewe