The impact of subsidies on the prevalence of climate-sensitive residential buildings in Malaysia

Dependence on air-conditioning (AC) for residential cooling and ventilation is a health and sustainability challenge. In hot temperatures, climate-sensitive buildings (CSB) can complement and/or substitute for AC usage in achieving thermal comfort. Many countries facing such conditions—particularly in tropical climates—are developing quickly, with rising populations and income creating demand for new housing and AC. This presents a window for adoption of CSB but could also result in long term lock-in of AC-dependent buildings. Here, a simple system dynamics model is used to explore the potential and limitations of subsidies to affect futures of housing stock and night-time AC usage in Malaysia. The effectiveness of subsidies in achieving high uptake of CSB and resulting health benefits is highly dependent on homebuyer willingness to pay (WTP). A detailed understanding of WTP in the Malaysian context and factors that can shift WTP is necessary to determine if CSB subsidies can be a good policy mechanism for achieving CSB uptake

Simulation modeling of the long-term evolution of local malaria transmission and acquired immunity in the context of urban growth and urban-rural travel

Malaria occurrence is lower in urban versus rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa for a variety of reasons, including limitation of suitable mosquito habitat, generally improved housing standards and access to prevention and treatment, and a relative decrease in the ratio of vectors to humans. Nonetheless, empirical observation confirms that malaria cases, whether locally transmitted or imported, are frequently observed in cities in endemic areas. Theoretical considerations imply that local transmission will decrease as a city grows, transitioning from a relatively malaria-permissive state to one that encourages reduction or extinction. Using a simple deterministic systems dynamic model based on traditional malaria models, we simulate scenarios for the evolution of local transmission rates and acquired immunity in a homogenous urban area with respect to population size, growth rate, and level of suppression of mosquito breeding. In particular, we consider how the timing and extent of decreases in local transmission are mitigated by travel by city dwellers to endemic rural areas and their resulting exposure to infected mosquitoes. We explore the generalizability and sensitivity to assumptions of our results using microsimulation and analytic methods to account for various aspects of environmental (urban/rural) and demographic heterogeneity. The results of these simulation models should inform projections for long-term urban malaria trends, and have implications for the targeting of malaria prevention efforts in urban and peri-urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa

Xiamen Call for Action: Building the Brain of the City- Universal Principles of Urban Health

The question of how to achieve healthy, sustainable urban futures demands a singular emphasis. The scale and rate of change of modern urbanisation is unprecedented—so much so that it threatens the health gains of the past century. Urbanisation is the greatest ecological shift in human history, and in modern times has attained dimensions never seen before. We have mere decades to enact the greatest transformational change the planet has ever seen, if we are to safeguard a sustainable future. Indeed, the scope, scale, and ambition of transformative efforts need to accelerate dramatically, if humanity is to achieve sustainability before being overwhelmed by global change.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hydrogenation of Glucose on a Carbon-Supported Ru Catalyst: Optimization of the Reaction Conditions

The catalytic hydrogenation of D-glucose over a 3 wt% Ru/C catalyst wasstudied varying the operating conditions in mild conditions range to optimizethe obtention of D-sorbitol. The stirring speed, temperature, pressure, andinitial glucose concentration were varied between 250 - 700 rpm, 343 - 383 K,0.5 - 2 MPa, and 0.033 - 0.133 M, respectively. To verify the absence of masstransport limitations, the diffusion of reagents in the gas-liquid interface, theliquid-solid interface, and the internal diffusion in the particles were evaluated.Under the operating conditions studied, the reaction rate showed anorder with respect to H2 of 0.586 and with respect to glucose of 0.406. The kineticdata were adjusted using 3 general models and 19 different sub-modelsbased on Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson (LHHW) kinetics. Model3a was the best one interpreting the aqueous phase hydrogenation of glucose(both reagents competitively adsorbed on the catalyst). The H2 adsorption isdissociative and the rate-limiting step is the surface chemical reaction.Fil: Musci, Juan José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; ArgentinaFil: Chiosso, María Eugenia. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Siri, Guillermo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas "Dr. Jorge J. Ronco". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Casella, Mónica Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; Argentin

Glossário de Termos Endodônticos Parte I – A a F

ResumoA existência de um glossário de termos endodônticos era uma necessidade sentida desde há muito por todos aqueles que se dedicam mais a esta área da Medicina Dentária, e que querem e precisam de comunicar entre si, sendo fundamental que a terminologia tenha significado preciso e facilmente perceptível por colegas oriundos de escolas diferentes. O rápido desenvolvimento tecnológico e cientifico da Endodontia tem determinado uma evolução constante do léxico utilizado, e nessa conformidade qualquer glossário deve ser encarado como algo dinâmico, em constante evolução, pretendendo-se que não cristalize no tempo, mas antes se actualize permanentemente.Este é o primeiro de três artigos, que são a nossa contribuição para um Glossário de Termos Endodônticos em Português.AbstractThe existence of a glossary of contemporary endodontic terminology was long felt need for everyone with a particular focus on this area of knowledge, who want and need to communicate, and therefore feel the necessity that the terminology has a precise meaning and simultaneously that it will be understood by others, even from different schools. The fast technological and scientific development of Endodontics has determined a permanent evolution of the used lexicon, and so any glossary must be perceived as something dynamic, evolving constantly, something that it will be updated regularly and will not stay fossilized in time.This is the first of three papers, which are our contribution to the Glossary of Endodontic terminolog

Oxidation of glycerol with H2O2 on Pb-promoted Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalysts

A series of bimetallic Pd-Pb catalysts with a constant Pd content of 1 wt% and Pb/Pd atomic ratio from 0 to 1.6 supported on γ-Al2O3 were prepared and used for glycerol oxidation with H2O2 as the oxidizing agent at atmospheric pressure, 45℃ and pH=11. The morphology and dispersion of the catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The presence of an alloy phase in the bimetallic catalyst was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Glycerol conversion obtained with the monometallic Pd catalyst was 19%, which was increased to 100% with the addition of Pb. The four bimetallic PdPb catalysts were able to oxidize glycerol to dihydroxyacetone (DIHA) and the selectivity to DIHA reached 59%, 58%, 34% and 25% for PdPb0.25, PdPb0.50, PdPb1.00 and PdPb1.60 catalysts, respectively.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasCentro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias AplicadasFacultad de Ingenierí

The GRSS standard for GNSS-reflectometry

In February 2019 a Project Authorization Request was approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standards Association with the title “Standard for Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) Data and Metadata Content”. A Working Group has been assembled to draft this standard with the purpose of unifying and documenting GNSS-R measurements, calibration procedures, and product level definitions. The Working Group (http://www.grss-ieee.org/community/technical-committees/standards-or-earth-observations/) includes members, collaborators, and contributors from academia, international space agencies, and private industry. In a recent face-to-face meeting held during the ARSI+KEO 2019 Conference, the need was recognized to develop a standard with a wide range of operations, providing procedure guidelines independently of constraints imposed by current limitations on geophysical parameters retrieval algorithms. As such, this effort aims to establish the fundamentals of a potential virtual network of satellites providing inter-comparable data to the scientific community.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The role of public health dietary messages and guidelines in tackling overweight and obesity issues

Overweight and obesity in Malaysia pose serious threats to health. Prevalence has escalated to alarming levels in recent decades despite a multitude of dietary public health messages geared toward obesity prevention and health promotion. Gaps between health messages, messengers, and the public must be identified and closed to effectively combat obesity and overweight. This review article aims to examine dietary public health messages, guidelines, and programmes for the prevention of obesity in Malaysia, and explore potential reasons for the continued rise in prevalence. Dietary public health communication in Malaysia has progressed and improved substantially over the years. However, most messages have been designed for a general audience, with little consideration of differences in physical, social, cultural, and environment backgrounds, and varying levels of comprehension. We offer several recommendations to increase the effectiveness of dietary public health messages in fighting the obesity epidemic, based on a cross-sectoral, place-based approach that recognizes the complexity of underlying causes of obesity

Emerging from COVID-19: Lessons for Action on Climate Change and Health in Cities.

No abstract available