Effects of clothing and fibres properties on the heat and mass transport, for different body heat/sweat releases

Clothing plays a key role in the capacity of the body to adapt to the surrounding thermal environments. Thus, it is critically important to have a solid understanding of the effects of clothing and fibres properties on the body exchange rates. To this end, a detailed transfer model was implemented to analyse the effect of several textiles characteristics (outer surface emissivity, tortuosity, and fraction of fibre) and fibre properties (affinity with water, coefficient of water diffusion in the fibres, thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat), on the heat and mass transfer through multilayer clothing, for different intensities of heat/sweat release. The temperature and humidity predictions were validated with experimental data obtained during measurements of textile evaporative resistance. The results obtained for the multilayer clothing during an energy-demanding activity (i.e. metabolic heat production of 300 W m(-2) and sweating of 240 g m(-3) h(-1)) show that a decrease in the emissivity of the outer surface (0.9 - 0.1), and an increase in the coefficient of water diffusion in the fibres of the inner layer (4 x 10(-16) - 4 x 10(-11)), induce an increase in the maximum skin temperature (of 4.5 degrees C and 6.8 degrees C, respectively). Moreover, the water trapped inside clothing is significantly increased by augmenting the fraction of fibre (0.07 - 0.4), the density of the fibre (910 - 7850 kg m(3)), the fibre affinity with water (i.e. regains of 0.07 - 0.3), and the coefficient of water diffusion in the fibres (4 x 10(-16) - 4 x 10(-11)). During the post-exercise phase (with metabolic heat production of 65 W m(-2) and perspiration of 9 g m(-3) h(-1)), the parameters affecting significantly the Water content of the inner layer are the fraction of fibre, its density, and its affinity with water. The proposed numerical approach allows the study of strategies to optimise heat/mass transport rates through materials surrounding the body (e.g. in clothing applications, automotive environments or work-place microclimates) in order to minimise thermal discomfort and/or problems of high water content (e.g. friction burns and/or growth of fungi and bacteria)

A study of wastewater disinfection with photodynamic treatment and its ecotoxicological effects

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A study of wastewater disinfection with photodynamic treatment and its ecotoxicological effects

Viruses have higher mutation rates when compared with other microorganisms, particularly RNA viruses [1]. The higher mutation rate promotes the development of resistance to traditional antivirals, establishing a resistance behavior in viruses populations [1]. RNA viruses in wastewater (WW) have already been reported, leading to potential public health risks [2]. Wastewater treated with conventional antimicrobial approaches (tertiary WW treatments) like UV light, chlorine, and ozone can lead to viruses mutations and the formation of toxic by-products harmful to humans and the environment [3]. All this, highlights the inevitability to provide alternative WW disinfection techniques. Antimicrobial Photodynamic treatment (PDt), an approach based on the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is being considered a promising alternative to viruses inactivation without the generation of viral mutations or toxic by-products [4,5]. This study evaluated the efficiency of PDt in the inactivation of bacteriophage Phi6 (RNA-viruses model) in real WW. PDt assays were carried out in a buffer solution (PBS, as a controlled medium) and in WW (after secondary treatment) with Methylene Blue (MB) as photosensitizer (PS), and a low energy consuming light source (LED). The disinfection protocol developed with MB resulted in an efficient inactivation of the bacteriophage Phi6, both in PBS and in the real WW. Considering that treated effluents are released into the environment, the acute toxicity of PDttreated WW to the model organism Daphnia magna was also evaluated during a 48h exposure to the PDt-treated WW with MB. In this communication it will be present and discuss the PDt protocol developed to photoinactivate the model RNAvirus bacteriophage Phi6 and the preliminary results of the acute toxicity of PDt-treated WW in Daphnia magna model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vacuum solutions of the gravitational field equations in the brane world model

We consider some classes of solutions of the static, spherically symmetric gravitational field equations in the vacuum in the brane world scenario, in which our Universe is a three-brane embedded in a higher dimensional space-time. The vacuum field equations on the brane are reduced to a system of two ordinary differential equations, which describe all the geometric properties of the vacuum as functions of the dark pressure and dark radiation terms (the projections of the Weyl curvature of the bulk, generating non-local brane stresses). Several classes of exact solutions of the vacuum gravitational field equations on the brane are derived. In the particular case of a vanishing dark pressure the integration of the field equations can be reduced to the integration of an Abel type equation. A perturbative procedure, based on the iterative solution of an integral equation, is also developed for this case. Brane vacuums with particular symmetries are investigated by using Lie group techniques. In the case of a static vacuum brane admitting a one-parameter group of conformal motions the exact solution of the field equations can be found, with the functional form of the dark radiation and pressure terms uniquely fixed by the symmetry. The requirement of the invariance of the field equations with respect to the quasi-homologous group of transformations also imposes a unique, linear proportionality relation between the dark energy and dark pressure. A homology theorem for the static, spherically symmetric gravitational field equations in the vacuum on the brane is also proven.Comment: 13 pages, no figures, to appear in PR

Wastewater disinfection with photodynamic treatment and evaluation of its ecotoxicological effects

Research has demonstrated the presence of viruses in wastewater (WW), which can remain viable for a long period, posing potential health risks. Conventional WW treatment methods involving UV light, chlorine and ozone efficiently reduce microbial concentrations, however, they produce hazardous byproducts and microbial resistance that are detrimental to human health and the ecosystem. Hence, there is a need for novel disinfection techniques. Antimicrobial Photodynamic Inactivation (PDI) emerges as a promising strategy, utilizing photosensitizers (PS), light, and dioxygen to inactivate viruses. This study aims to assess the efficacy of PDI by testing methylene blue (MB) and the cationic porphyrin TMPyP as PSs, along a low energy consuming white light source (LED) at an irradiance of 50 mW/cm2, for the inactivation of bacteriophage Phi6. Phi6 serves as an enveloped RNA-viruses surrogate model in WW. PDI experiments were conducted in a buffer solution (PBS) and real WW matrices (filtered and non-filtered). Considering the environmental release of the treated effluents, this research also evaluated the ecotoxicity of the resulting solution (post-PDI treatment effluent) on the model organism Daphnia magna, following the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) immobilization technical 202 guideline. Daphnids were exposed to WW containing the tested PS at different concentrations and dilutions (accounting for the dilution factor during WW release into receiving waters) over 48 h. The results indicate that PDI with MB efficiently inactivated the model virus in the different aqueous matrices, achieving reductions superior to 8 log10 PFU/mL, after treatments of 5 min in PBS and of ca. 90 min in WW. Daphnids survival increased when subjected to the PDI-treated WW with MB, considering the dilution factor. Overall, the effectiveness of PDI in eliminating viruses in WW, the fading of the toxic effects on daphnids after MB’ irradiation and the rapid dilution effect upon WW release in the environment highlight the possibility of using MB in WW PDI-disinfection.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Swiss Pathogen Surveillance Platform - towards a nation-wide One Health data exchange platform for bacterial, viral and fungal genomics and associated metadata.

The Swiss Pathogen Surveillance Platform (SPSP) is a shared secure surveillance platform between human and veterinary medicine, to also include environmental and foodborne isolates. It enables rapid and detailed transmission monitoring and outbreak surveillance of pathogens using whole genome sequencing data and associated metadata. It features controlled data access, complex dynamic queries, dedicated dashboards and automated data sharing with international repositories, providing actionable results for public health and the vision to improve societal well-being and health

Efeito da amplitude térmica no desempenho e desenvolvimento corporal de bezerros nos primeiros 28 dias de idade.

A produção de bezerros leiteiros deve ser cada vez mais eficiente, buscando gerar animais que possam expressar todo seu potencial produtivo. O presente estudo avaliou os efeitos da amplitude térmica no desempenho e desenvolvimento corporal de bezerros holandeses nos primeiros 28 dias de idade. O experimento foi conduzido sob delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com dois tratamentos, zona termoneutra (ZT) (7 repetições, 3 machos e 4 fêmeas) e amplitude térmica (AT) (9 repetições, 5 machos e 4 fêmeas). Os animais do tratamento ZT foram mantidos em câmara climática com índice de temperatura e umidade (ITU) de 66,1 ± 3,25 durante as 24 horas do dia em todo o período experimental. O tratamento de AT foi 06h30min às 15h30min = 80,0 ± 5,66 (calor); 15h30min às 18h30min = 68,1 ± 1,54 (termoneutralidade); 18h30min às 03h30min = 57,9 ± 0,59 (frio); 03h30min às 06h30min = 67,3 ± 2,32 (termoneutralidade). Foram avaliadas a altura de cernelha, largura de garupa, perímetro torácico, ganho médio diário nas idades de 7, 14, 21 e 28 dias de idade e ganho de peso total. Houve efeito de interação entre tratamento e idade para as variáveis ganho médio diário e largura de garupa (p<0,05). Houve efeito de tratamento para perímetro torácico (p=0,004), peso final (p=0,03) e ganho de peso total (p=0,0008). A amplitude térmica influencia o desempenho e o desenvolvimento corporal de bezerros holandeses. Bezerros submetidos a grande variação de temperatura durante o dia apresentam menor perímetro torácico e ganho de peso nos primeiros 28 dias de idade

Increased risk of venous thrombosis by AB alleles of the ABO blood group and Factor V Leiden in a Brazilian population

Most cases of a predisposition to venous thrombosis are caused by resistance to activated protein C, associated in 95% of cases with the Factor V Leiden allele (FVL or R506Q). Several recent studies report a further increased risk of thrombosis by an association between the AB alleles of the ABO blood group and Factor V Leiden. The present study investigated this association with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in individuals treated at the Hemocentro de Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil. A case-control comparison showed a significant risk of thrombosis in the presence of Factor V Leiden (OR = 10.1), which was approximately doubled when the AB alleles of the ABO blood group were present as well (OR = 22.3). These results confirm that the increased risk of deep vein thrombosis in the combined presence of AB alleles and Factor V Leiden is also applicable to the Brazilian population suggesting that ABO blood group typing should be routinely added to FVL in studies involving thrombosis