Investigations on natural hazards which trigger technological disasters in Romania

Romania faces the challenges of a developing country preparing to cope with disasters, be they natural or technological. The paper entails comprehensive research on technological accidents triggered by natural hazards (so-called Natech accidents). The research is based on a survey conducted by the competent authorities on the Seveso II Directive in 2009. This survey enabled the identification of Natech hazards and their correlation with the vulnerability of local communities and infrastructures. The Natech hazards were analyzed also in terms of their inclusion in the emergency planning process, starting from the current legislation. The results indicate that the number of incidents (including Natech events) has significantly decreased subsequent to the appropriate implementation of emergency plans and safety reports

Does a higher number of siblings protect against the development of allergy and asthma? A review

Study objective: To review the "protective" effects of having a higher number of siblings for the risk of atopic eczema, asthma wheezing, hay fever, and allergic sensitisation. Method: Review of the literature (Medline since 1965 and references). Main results: 53 different studies were identified. For eczema, 9 of 11 studies reported an inverse relation with number of siblings; for asthma and wheezing, 21 of 31 reported the inverse association; for hay fever, all 17 studies showed the effect; for allergic sensitisation or immunoglobulin E reactivity 14 of 16 studies supported the "protective" effect of a higher number of siblings. The studies emphasise a "theory" that is based exclusively on epidemiological associations. Conclusions: Research has not yet answered the question of which causal factors explain the sibling effect. Causal factors must meet two criteria; they must vary with sibship size and they must protect against atopic manifestations. The prevailing "hygiene hypothesis" failed to explain the findings adequately. Alternative explanations include in utero programming or endocrine explanatory models. The epidemiology research into siblings and atopic disorders has entered an intellectually challenging phase. Possessing sufficient knowledge about the causal factors might prevent at least 30% of all cases of asthma, eczema, and hay fever

DESIGN ASPECTS OF A RESIDENTIAL WIND GENERATOR

In this paper we present some aspects about the design of a small permanent magnet wind generator with axial magnetic flux often used in residential wind turbine. There are summarised the main steps of the magnetic and electric calculations with applications to a particular case: 0.6 kVA wind generator. The axial flux wind generator design starts with the characteristics of the rare earths permanent magnet existing on the market