Direct and indirect measurements of on-road vehicle emissions in the UK: Implications for outdoor and within-vehicle air quality and human health

Urban air quality and particularly human exposure to traffic related emissions is one of the biggest problems in modern societies. This thesis is dedicated to advancing understanding of human exposure to traffic related air pollution in developed cities. The conceptual framework covers aspects of exposure spanning from roadside to within-vehicle exposure, while focusing on providing new modelling tools and methods that can be used to assist and better manage air quality. To investigate roadside exposure, a trend analysis of nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and temperature was performed across the UK for the period 2009 - 2016 and a new methodology was introduced to quantify for the first time the impact of cold weather-related vehicle primary nitrogen dioxide emissions on urban air quality. To study within-vehicle exposure, a set of field experiments were conducted, where four vehicles were driven on a consistent route encompassing contrasting road types, measuring, under different ventilation options, simultaneous within-vehicle and ambient levels of particulate matter, aerosol lung surface deposited area, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. The data from these experiments were used to build a mass balance model to estimate personal exposure to air pollution within vehicle cabins, while state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms were also used to introduce new predictive capabilities for air pollution exposure

In-vehicle exposure to NO2 and PM2.5:A comprehensive assessment of controlling parameters and reduction strategies to minimise personal exposure

Vehicles are the third most occupied microenvironment, other than home and workplace, in developed urban areas. Vehicle cabins are confined spaces where occupants can mitigate their exposure to on-road nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations. Understanding which parameters exert the greatest influence on in-vehicle exposure underpins advice to drivers and vehicle occupants in general. This study assessed the in-vehicle NO2 and PM2.5 levels and developed stepwise general additive mixed models (sGAMM) to investigate comprehensively the combined and individual influences of factors that influence the in-vehicle exposures. The mean in-vehicle levels were 19 ± 18 and 6.4 ± 2.7 μg/m3 for NO2 and PM2.5, respectively. sGAMM model identified significant factors explaining a large fraction of in-vehicle NO2 and PM2.5 variability, R2 = 0.645 and 0.723, respectively. From the model's explained variability on-road air pollution was the most important predictor accounting for 22.3 and 30 % of NO2 and PM2.5 variability, respectively. Vehicle-based predictors included manufacturing year, cabin size, odometer reading, type of cabin filter, ventilation fan speed power, window setting, and use of air recirculation, and together explained 48.7 % and 61.3 % of NO2 and PM2.5 variability, respectively, with 41.4 % and 51.9 %, related to ventilation preference and type of filtration media, respectively. Driving-based parameters included driving speed, traffic conditions, traffic lights, roundabouts, and following high emitters and accounted for 22 and 7.4 % of in-vehicle NO2 and PM2.5 exposure variability, respectively. Vehicle occupants can significantly reduce their in-vehicle exposure by moderating vehicle ventilation settings and by choosing an appropriate cabin air filter

NO2 levels inside vehicle cabins with pollen and activated carbon filters::A real world targeted intervention to estimate NO2 exposure reduction potential

Traffic related nitrogen dioxide (NO2) poses a serious environmental and health risk factor in the urban environment. Drivers and vehicle occupants in general may have acute exposure to NO2 levels. In order to identify key controllable measures to reduce vehicle occupant's exposure, this study measures NO2 exposure inside ten different vehicles under real world driving conditions and applies a targeted intervention by replacing previously used filters with new standard pollen and new activated carbon cabin filters. The study also evaluates the efficiency of the latter as a function of duration of use. The mean in-vehicle NO2 exposure across the tested vehicles, driving the same route under comparable traffic and ambient air quality conditions, was 50.8 ± 32.7 μg/m3 for the new standard pollen filter tests and 9.2 ± 8.6 μg/m3 for the new activated carbon filter tests. When implementing the new activated carbon filters, overall we observed significant (p < 0.05) reductions by 87 % on average (range 80 - 94.2 %) in the in-vehicle NO2 levels compared to the on-road concentrations. We further found that the activated carbon filter NO2 removal efficiency drops by 6.8 ± 0.6 % per month; showing a faster decay in removal efficiency after the first 6 months of use. These results offer novel insights into how the general population can control and reduce their exposure to traffic related NO2. The use and regular replacement of activated carbon cabin air filters represents a relatively inexpensive method to significantly reduce in-vehicle NO2 exposure

SatNOGS: Satellite Networked Open Ground Station

Abstract—The SatNOGS, or Satellite Network Open Ground Stations, project promotes and supports free and open space applications. It seeks to solve the problem of connecting many satellite users/observers to many ground station operators. Modern open software, web, and hardware techniques are used in implementing the Network, Database, Client, and Ground Station sub- projects. Modularity in all the systems promotes the dual-use of ground stations by not interfering with local operation while utilizing the great amount of time a civilian, non-commercial ground station would otherwise sit idle

Non-chemical treatments for preventing the postharvest fungal rotting of citrus caused by Penicillium digitatum (green mold) and Penicillium italicum (blue mold)

Background: Citrus is one of the most economically important horticultural crops in the world. Citrus are vulnerable to the postharvest decay caused by Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum, which are both wound pathogens. To date, several non-chemical postharvest treatments have been investigated for the control of both pathogens, trying to provide an alternative solution to the synthetic fungicides (imazalil, thiabendazole, pyrimethanil, and fludioxonil), which are mainly employed and may have harmful effects on human health and environment. Scope and approach: The current study emphasizes the non-chemical postharvest treatments, such as irradiations, biocontrol agents, natural compounds, hot water treatment (HWT), and salts, on the prevention of decay caused by P. digitatum and P. italicum, also known as green and blue molds, respectively. The mode of action of each technique is presented and comprehensively discussed. Key findings and conclusions: In vivo and in vitro experiments in a laboratory scale have shown that the control of green and blue molds can be accomplished by the application of non-chemical treatments. The mechanisms of action of the non-chemical techniques have not been clearly elucidated. Several studies have mentioned that the application of non-chemical treatments results in the synthesis of secondary metabolites with antifungal activities (i.e. polyphenols, phytoalexins) in fruit surface. Moreover, non-chemical treatments may exert direct effects on fungal growth, such as disruption of cell walls, inhibition of metabolic respiration, and disruption of energy production related enzymes.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimento

Case Report: Endoscopic radiofrequency ablation with radial-EBUS and ROSE

BackgroundSingle pulmonary nodules are a common issue in everyday clinical practice. Currently, there are navigation systems with radial-endobronchial ultrasound and electromagnetic navigation for obtaining biopsies. Moreover, rapid on-site evaluation can be used for a quick assessment. These small lesions, even when they do not have any clinically significant information with positron emission tomography, are important to investigate.Case descriptionRadiofrequency and microwave ablation have been evaluated as local treatment techniques. These techniques can be used as therapy for a patient population that cannot be operated on. Currently, one verified operating system is used for endoscopic radiofrequency ablation through the working channel of a bronchoscope.ConclusionIn our case, a new system was used to perform radiofrequency ablation with long-term follow-up