Sistema Integrado de Monitoreo Ambiental de Caldas – SIMAC Sistema de Vigilancia de Calidad del Aire en Manizales

La dinámica actual de la población tiene mayor necesidad de consumo debido a su acelerado crecimiento. Esta dinámica trae consigo una mayor producción industrial, altos índices de motorización y por ende mayores niveles de emisión de contaminantes, entre los cuales se destacan el monóxido de carbono (CO), óxidos de nitrógeno (NOx), dióxido de azufre (SO2), ozono troposférico (O3) y material particulado (PM). Lo anterior genera impactos negativos en la calidad del aire de los centros urbanos y en los ecosistemas circundantes. En la dinámica del Sistema de Vigilancia de la Calidad del Aire (SVCA) intervienen diferentes elementos que requieren una clasificación para lograr un mayor entendimiento del mismo. En este sentido, las emisiones son ocasionadas principalmente por fuentes antropogénicas como el parque automotor y la producción industrial, o por fuentes naturales, como en el caso de la ciudad de Manizales, las emisiones generadas por el volcán Nevado del Ruiz. Estas emisiones van a la atmósfera donde se ven afectadas por las condiciones climáticas que favorecen o no las reacciones químicas, deposición, dispersión y transporte de los contaminantes. El objetivo de las estaciones de monitoreo instaladas en la ciudad es cuantificar los diferentes contaminantes presentes en el aire ambiente. Posteriormente, estos datos son procesados y publicados periódicamente, generando información de gran utilidad para la toma de decisiones que permitan alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible para la ciudad y una adecuada gestión de la calidad del air

Genetic Study of SARS-CoV-2 Non Structural Protein 12 in COVID-19 Patients Non Responders to Remdesivir

Remdesivir (RDV) was the first antiviral drug approved by the FDA to treat severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. RDV inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication by stalling the non structural protein 12 (nsp12) subunit of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). No evidence of global widespread RDV-resistance mutations has been reported, however, defining genetic pathways to RDV resistance and determining emergent mutations prior and subsequent antiviral therapy in clinical settings is necessary. This study identified 57/149 (38.3%) patients who did not respond to one course (5-days) (n = 36/111, 32.4%) or prolonged (5 to 20 days) (n = 21/38, 55.3%) RDV therapy by subgenomic RNA detection. Genetic variants in the nsp12 gene were detected in 29/49 (59.2%) non responder patients by Illumina sequencing, including the de novo E83D mutation that emerged in an immunosuppressed patient after receiving 10 + 8 days of RDV, and the L838I detected at baseline and/or after prolonged RDV treatment in 9/49 (18.4%) non responder subjects. Although 3D protein modeling predicted no interference with RDV, the amino acid substitutions detected in the nsp12 involved changes on the electrostatic outer surface and in secondary structures that may alter antiviral response. It is important for health surveillance to study potential mutations associated with drug resistance as well as the benefit of RDV retreatment, especially in immunosuppressed patients and in those with persistent replication. IMPORTANCE This study provides clinical and microbiologic data of an extended population of hospitalized patients for COVID-19 pneumonia who experienced treatment failure, detected by the presence of subgenomic RNA (sgRNA). The genetic variants found in the nsp12 pharmacological target of RDV bring into focus the importance of monitoring emergent mutations, one of the objectives of the World Health Organization (WHO) for health surveillance. These mutations become even more crucial as RDV keeps being prescribed and new molecules are being repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19. The present article offers new perspectives for the clinical management of non responder patients treated and retreated with RDV and emphasizes the need of further research of the benefit of combinatorial therapies and RDV retreatment, especially in immunosuppressed patients with persistent replication after therapy.This work was financed by a Gilead Sciences grant (IN-ES-540-6089) and CIBER Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, España (CB21/13/00081). This work was financed by ad hoc patronage funds for research on COVID-19 from donations from citizens and organizations to the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona-Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica.S

Intercomparison and characterization of 23 Aethalometers under laboratory and ambient air conditions : procedures and unit-to-unit variabilities

Aerosolized black carbon is monitored worldwide to quantify its impact on air quality and climate. Given its importance, measurements of black carbon mass concentrations must be conducted with instruments operating in quality-checked and ensured conditions to generate data which are reliable and comparable temporally and geographically. In this study, we report the results from the largest characterization and intercomparison of filter-based absorption photometers, the Aethalometer model AE33, belonging to several European monitoring networks. Under controlled laboratory conditions, a total of 23 instruments measured mass concentrations of black carbon from three well-characterized aerosol sources: synthetic soot, nigrosin particles, and ambient air from the urban background of Leipzig, Germany. The objective was to investigate the individual performance of the instruments and their comparability; we analyzed the response of the instruments to the different aerosol sources and the impact caused by the use of obsolete filter materials and the application of maintenance activities. Differences in the instrument-to-instrument variabilities from equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations reported at 880 nm were determined before maintenance activities (for soot measurements, average deviation from total least square regression was -2.0% and the range -16% to 7 %; for nigrosin measurements, average deviation was 0.4% and the range -15% to 17 %), and after they were carried out (for soot measurements, average deviation was 1:0% and the range -14% to 8 %; for nigrosin measurements, the average deviation was 0.5% and the range -12% to 15 %). The deviations are in most of the cases explained by the type of filter material employed by the instruments, the total particle load on the filter, and the flow calibration. The results of this intercomparison activity show that relatively small unit-to-unit variability of AE33-based particle light absorbing measurements is possible with well-maintained instruments. It is crucial to follow the guidelines for maintenance activities and the use of the proper filter tape in the AE33 to ensure high quality and comparable black carbon (BC) measurements among international observational networks.Peer reviewe

Intercomparison and characterization of 23 Aethalometers under laboratory and ambient air conditions: procedures and unit-to-unit variabilities

Aerosolized black carbon is monitored worldwide to quantify its impact on air quality and climate. Given its importance, measurements of black carbon mass concentrations must be conducted with instruments operating in qualitychecked and ensured conditions to generate data which are reliable and comparable temporally and geographically. In this study, we report the results from the largest characterization and intercomparison of filter-based absorption photometers, the Aethalometer model AE33, belonging to several European monitoring networks. Under controlled laboratory conditions, a total of 23 instruments measured mass concentrations of black carbon from three wellcharacterized aerosol sources: synthetic soot, nigrosin particles, and ambient air from the urban background of Leipzig, Germany. The objective was to investigate the individual performance of the instruments and their comparability; we analyzed the response of the instruments to the different aerosol sources and the impact caused by the use of obsolete filter materials and the application of maintenance activities. Differences in the instrument-to-instrument variabilities from equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations reported at 880 nm were determined before maintenance activities (for soot measurements, average deviation from total least square regression was-2.0% and the range-16% to 7 %; for nigrosin measurements, average deviation was 0.4% and the range-15% to 17 %), and after they were carried out (for soot measurements, average deviation was-1.0% and the range-14% to 8 %; for nigrosin measurements, the average deviation was 0.5%and the range-12%to 15 %). The deviations are in most of the cases explained by the type of filter material employed by the instruments, the total particle load on the filter, and the flow calibration. The results of this intercomparison activity show that relatively small unit-to-unit variability of AE33-based particle light absorbing measurements is possible with wellmaintained instruments. It is crucial to follow the guidelines for maintenance activities and the use of the proper filter tape in the AE33 to ensure high quality and comparable black carbon (BC) measurements among international observational networks. © 2021 Author(s). This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

XVI International Congress of Control Electronics and Telecommunications: "Techno-scientific considerations for a post-pandemic world intensive in knowledge, innovation and sustainable local development"

Este título, sugestivo por los impactos durante la situación de la Covid 19 en el mundo, y que en Colombia lastimosamente han sido muy críticos, permiten asumir la obligada superación de tensiones sociales, políticas, y económicas; pero sobre todo científicas y tecnológicas. Inicialmente, esto supone la existencia de una capacidad de la sociedad colombiana por recuperar su estado inicial después de que haya cesado la perturbación a la que fue sometida por la catastrófica pandemia, y superar ese anterior estado de cosas ya que se encontraban -y aún se encuentran- muchos problemas locales mal resueltos, medianamente resueltos, y muchos sin resolver: es decir, habrá que rediseñar y fortalecer una probada resiliencia social existente - producto del prolongado conflicto social colombiano superado parcialmente por un proceso de paz exitoso - desde la tecnociencia local; como lo indicaba Markus Brunnermeier - economista alemán y catedrático de economía de la Universidad de Princeton- en su libro The Resilient Society…La cuestión no es preveerlo todo sino poder reaccionar…aprender a recuperarse rápido.This title, suggestive of the impacts during the Covid 19 situation in the world, and which have unfortunately been very critical in Colombia, allows us to assume the obligatory overcoming of social, political, and economic tensions; but above all scientific and technological. Initially, this supposes the existence of a capacity of Colombian society to recover its initial state after the disturbance to which it was subjected by the catastrophic pandemic has ceased, and to overcome that previous state of affairs since it was found -and still is find - many local problems poorly resolved, moderately resolved, and many unresolved: that is, an existing social resilience test will have to be redesigned and strengthened - product of the prolonged Colombian social conflict partially overcome by a successful peace process - from local technoscience; As Markus Brunnermeier - German economist and professor of economics at Princeton University - indicates in his book The Resilient Society...The question is not to foresee everything but to be able to react...learn to recover quickly.Bogot

Metodología para identificar y analizar los costos de calidad y de no calidad en un proceso productivo de cartón corrugado [recurso electrónico]

A lo largo del tiempo, las compañías se han enfocado en garantizar la calidad de sus productos a través de revisiones en las diferentes etapas de sus procesos (adquisición, producción, inspección, almacenamiento, distribución y comercialización), con los cuales buscan el cumplimiento de las especificaciones para satisfacer las necesidades de los clientes Sin embargo, en muchas ocasiones estas revisiones se orientan más al cumplimiento de procedimientos y registros con los cuales se evidencie la conformidad de un producto y la entrega de éste al cliente, que a la definición de mecanismos que permitan identificar posibles desviaciones en la cadena de producción, como son la prevención de errores, la evaluación del cumplimiento de las especificaciones, así como la detección de fallas (internas o externas); estos últimos son los que mayor impacto generan puesto que se presentan cuando el producto ya está terminado o se ha enviado al cliente

Optical properties and simple forcing efficiency of the organic aerosols and black carbon emitted by residential wood burning in rural Central Europe

Abstract. Recent years have seen an increase in the use of wood for energy production of over 30 %, and this trend is expected to continue due to the current energy crisis and geopolitical instability. At present, residential wood burning (RWB) is one of the most important sources of organic aerosols (OA) and black carbon (BC). While BC is recognized for its large light absorption cross-section, the role of OA in light absorption is still under evaluation due to their heterogeneous composition and source-dependent optical properties. Studies that characterize wood-burning aerosol emissions in Europe typically focus on urban and background sites and only cover BC properties. However, RWB is more prevalent in rural areas, and the present scenario indicates that an improved understanding of the RWB aerosol optical properties and their subsequent connection to climate impacts is necessary for rural areas. We have characterized atmospheric aerosol particles from a central European rural site during wintertime in the village of Retje in Loški Potok, Slovenia, from 01.12.2017 to 07.03.2018. The village experienced extremely high aerosol concentrations produced by RWB and near-ground temperature inversion. The isolated location of the site and the substantial local emissions made it an ideal laboratory-like place for characterizing RWB aerosols with low influence from non-RWB sources under ambient conditions. The mean mass concentrations of OA and BC were 34.8 µg m-3 (max = 271.8 µg m-3) and 3.1 µg m-3 (max = 24.3 µg m-3), respectively. The mean total particle number concentration (10–600 nm) was 9.9 x 103 particles cm-3 (max = 53.5 x 103 particles cm-3). The mean total light absorption coefficient at 370 nm and 880 nm measured by an Aethalometer AE33 were 122.8 Mm-1 and 15.3 Mm-1 and had maximum values of 1103.9 Mm-1 and 179.1 Mm-1, respectively. The aerosol concentrations and absorption coefficients measured during the campaign in Loški Potok were significantly larger than those reported values for several urban areas in the region with larger populations and extent of aerosol sources. Here, considerable contributions from brown carbon (BrC) to the total light absorption were identified, reaching up to 60 % and 48 % in the near UV (370 nm) and blue (470 nm) wavelengths. These contributions are up to three times higher than values reported for other sites impacted by wood-burning emissions. The calculated mass absorption cross-section and the absorption Ångström exponent for RWB OA were MACOA, 370 nm= 2.4 m2 g-1, and AAEBrC, 370–590 nm= 3.9, respectively. Simple forcing efficiency (SFE) calculations were performed as a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the climate impact of the RWB aerosols produced at the study site by integrating the optical properties measured during the campaign. The SFE results show a considerable forcing capacity from the local RWB aerosols, with a high sensitivity to OA absorption properties and a more substantial impact over bright surfaces like snow, typical during the coldest season with higher OA emissions from RWB. Our study\u27s results are highly significant regarding air pollution, optical properties, and climate impact. The findings suggest that there may be an underestimation of RWB emissions in rural Europe and that further investigation is necessary

Hidden black carbon air pollution in hilly rural areas - a case study of Dinaric depression

Air pollution is not an exclusively urban problem as wood burning is a widespread practice in rural areas. As we lack information on the air quality situation in rural mountainous regions, our aim is to examine equivalent black carbon (eBC) pollution in a typical rural karst area in the settlement of Loški Potok (Slovenia). eBC mass concentrations were measured by Aethalometer (AE-33) at two sites in Retje karst depression. The rural village station was located at the bottom of the karst depression whereas the rural background station was positioned at the top of the hill. We showthe diurnal variation of equivalent black carbon mass concentrations for different seasons. In the populated karst depression, the major source of eBC pollution are households using wood as a heating fuel reaching the highest mass concentrations in winter. Diurnal pattern of eBC from biomass burning and traffic differ due to different source activity and it is influenced by typical formation of a cold air pool from late afternoon until late morning, restricting the dispersion of local emissions. The large difference in mass concentrations between the lowest part of the village (rural station) and the top of the hill (rural background station) indicates that in a vertically stratified and stable atmosphere local sources of black carbon have a major impact onair quality conditions in the area studied. Since in Alpine and Dinaric regions there are many similar inhabited areas, we can expect similar air quality conditions also in other rural hilly areas with limited self-cleaning air capacity

Intercomparison and characterization of 23 Aethalometers under laboratory and ambient air conditions:

Aerosolized black carbon is monitored worldwide to quantify its impact on air quality and climate. Given its importance, measurements of black carbon mass concentrations must be conducted with instruments operating in quality-checked and ensured conditions to generate data which are reliable and comparable temporally and geographically. In this study, we report the results from the largest characterization and intercomparison of filter-based absorption photometers, the Aethalometer model AE33, belonging to several European monitoring networks. Under controlled laboratory conditions, a total of 23 instruments measured mass concentrations of black carbon from three well-characterized aerosol sources: synthetic soot, nigrosin particles, and ambient air from the urban background of Leipzig, Germany. The objective was to investigate the individual performance of the instruments and their comparabilitywe analyzed the response of the instruments to the different aerosol sources and the impact caused by the use of obsolete filter materials and the application of maintenance activities. Differences in the instrument-to-instrument variabilities from equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations reported at 880 nm were determined before maintenance activities (for soot measurements, average deviation from total least square regression was −2.0 % and the range −16 % to 7 %for nigrosin measurements, average deviation was 0.4 % and the range −15 % to 17 %), and after they were carried out (for soot measurements, average deviation was −1.0 % and the range −14 % to 8 %for nigrosin measurements, the average deviation was 0.5 % and the range −12 % to 15 %). The deviations are in most of the cases explained by the type of filter material employed by the instruments, the total particle load on the filter, and the flow calibration. The results of this intercomparison activity show that relatively small unit-to-unit variability of AE33-based particle light absorbing measurements is possible with well-maintained instruments. It is crucial to follow the guidelines for maintenance activities and the use of the proper filter tape in the AE33 to ensure high quality and comparable black carbon (BC) measurements among international observational networks

The impact of temperature inversions on black carbon and particle mass concentrations in a mountainous area

Residential wood combustion is a widespread practice in Europe with a serious impact on air quality, especially in mountainous areas. While there is a significant number of studies conducted in deep urbanized valleys and basins, little is known about the air pollution processes in rural shallow hollows, where around 30 % of the people in mountainous areas across Europe live. We aim to determine the influence of ground temperature inversions on wood combustion aerosol pollution in hilly, rural areas. The study uses Retje karst hollow (Loški Potok, Slovenia) as a representative site for mountainous and hilly rural areas in central and south-eastern Europe with residential wood combustion. Sampling with a mobile monitoring platform along the hollow was performed in December 2017 and January 2018. The backpack mobile monitoring platform was used for the determination of equivalent black carbon (eBC) and particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations along the hollow. To ensure high quality of mobile measurement data, intercomparisons of mobile instruments with reference instruments were performed at two air quality stations during every run. Our study showed that aerosol pollution events in the relief depression were associated with high local emission intensities originating almost entirely from residential wood burning and shallow temperature inversions (58 m on average). The eBC and PM mass concentrations showed stronger associations with the potential temperature gradient (R2=0.8) than with any other meteorological parameters taken into account (ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation). The strong association between the potential temperature gradient and pollutant concentrations suggests that even a small number of emission sources (total 243 households in the studied hollow) in similar hilly and mountainous rural areas with frequent temperature inversions can significantly increase the levels of eBC and PM and deteriorate local air quality. During temperature inversions the measured mean eBC and PM2.5 mass concentrations in the whole hollow were as high as 4.5±2.6 and 48.0 ± 27.7 µg m−3, respectively, which is comparable to larger European urban centres