WETWALL - an innovative design concept for the treatment of wastewater at an urban scale

Rising temperatures, increasing food demand and scarcity of water and land resources highlight the importance of promoting the sustainable expansion of agriculture to our urban environment, while preserving water resources. Treating urban wastewaters, such as greywater and hydroponic wastewater, may represent a strategic point for the implementation of urban farming, ensuring food security, reducing pressures on water resources and promoting climate change mitigation. The WETWALL design concept proposes a unique ecotechnology for secondary wastewater treatment at an urban scale, which brings the novelty of a modular living wall hybrid flow. This concept is based on the integration of two established nature-based solutions/ecomimetic designs: constructed wetlands and a modular living walls. First presented is an overview about the state of the art in the scope of living walls treating wastewater, in order to identify the main design aspects related to the performance of such systems, which mainly concerns the removal of nitrates and phosphates. Second, the WETWALL design concept is presented. A scheme regarding the selection of the main components, such as plants and substrate, is proposed, and potential structure developments and operation strategies are discussed. In addition, considering the scope of integrating the circular economy with the design process, potential interactions between this technology and the urban environment are discussed. The main goal of this article is to substantiate the potential of the WETWALL design concept as an innovative wastewater treatment at an urban scale.Biggest thanks to the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – Brazil (CNPQ), for their financial support (doctoral fellowship). The authors also would like to thank the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain), the Aarhus University (Denmark) and the research groups GREA (2014 SGR 123), DIOPMA (2014 SGR 1543) and GICITED (2014 SGR 1298)

Percebem els errors de vacunació?

Errors de vacunació; Immunització; Seguretat dels pacientsErrores de vacunación; Inmunización; Seguridad de los pacientesVaccination errors; Immunization; Patient safetyIntroducció. Els errors en la vacunació poden provocar, entre altres coses, efectes adversos i disminució de la resposta immunitària. L’objectiu del present estudi és conèixer el grau de percepció d’errors en la vacunació i la freqüència amb què es produeixen. Mètodes. L’any 2017 es va aplicar una enquesta transversal–basada en 20 supòsits d’errors i 5 de no errors– al personal sanitari implicat en les vacunacions a la Regió Sanitària Camp de Tarragona, la de Lleida i la d’Alt Pirineu i Aran, el qual havia de valorar la percepció i la freqüència dels supòsits. Resultats. Van respondre el 31,4% (232/740) dels enquestats. El 92,7% (215) era personal d’infermeria i el 81,1% (188) feia més de quatre anys que administrava vacunes. Van valorar 5.800 supòsits (25 x 232): 4.640 eren errors (20 x 232) i 1.160 no ho eren (5 x 232). El 5,2% (304/5.800) van tenir dubtes a l’hora de decidir sobre si era error o no ho era. Els errors eren percebuts en un 68,7% dels supòsits (3.039/4.423) i els no errors, en un 68,2% (732/1.073). La concordança entre percepció i realitat va ser dèbil (Kappa=0,2763). El 21,0% eren conscients que havien comès un error alguna vegadaIntroducción. Los errores en la vacunación pueden provocar, entre otras cosas, efectos adversos y disminución de la respuesta inmunitaria. El objetivo del presente estudio es conocer el grado de percepción de errores en la vacunación y la frecuencia con que se producen. Métodos. El año 2017 se aplicó una encuesta transversal –basada en 20 supuestos de errores y 5 de no errores– al personal sanitario implicado en las vacunaciones en la Región Sanitaria Camp de Tarragona, la de Lleida y la de Alt Pirineu y Aran, el cual debía valorar la percepción y la frecuencia de los supuestos. Resultados. Respondió el 31,4% (232/740) de los encuestados. El 92,7% (215) era personal de enfermería y el 81,1% (188) llevaba más de cuatro años administrando vacunas. Valoraron 5.800 supuestos (25 x 232): 4.640 eran errores (20 x 232) y 1.160 no lo eran (5 x 232). El 5,2% (304/5800) dudaron en el momento de decidir entre si era un error o no lo era. Los errores eran percibidos en un 68,7% de los supuestos (3.039/4.423) y los no errores, en un 68,2% (732/1.073). La concordancia entre percepción y realidad fue débil (Kappa = 0,2763). El 21,0% eran conscientes de que habían cometido un error alguna vez. Conclusiones. La percepción de los errores en la vacunación y la formación en relación con esta cuestión son mejorables y habría que incrementar la formación en este sentido.Background. Vaccination errors can give rise, among others, to adverse effects and a diminished immune response. The objective of this study was to know the degree of perceived vaccination errors and the frequency at which they occur. Methods. In 2017, a cross-sectional survey (based on 20 errors and 5 non-errors assumptions) was made to health workers involved in vaccinations in the Tarragona, Lleida and Alt Pirineu i Aran health regions. These had to assess the perception and frequency of the assumptions. Results. 31.4% (232/740) answered. 92.7% (215) were nursing staff and 81.1% (188) had been administering vaccines for more than four years. 5 800 assumptions (25×232) were rated, being 4 640 errors (20×232) and 1 160 non-errors (5×232). When perceiving them as errors or non-errors, doubt was 5.2% (304/5 800). Errors were perceived in 68.7% of the cases (3 039/4 423) and non-errors in 68.2% (732/1073). The concordance between perception and reality was weak (Kappa = 0.2763). 21.0% were aware that they had committed a vaccination error at least once. Conclusions. Error perception and related training can be improved and training should be strengthene

Crushed autoclaved aerated concrete (CAAC), a potential reactive filter medium for enhancing phosphorus removal in nature-based solutions preliminary batch studies

Phosphorus (P) is a limited resource and can promote eutrophication of water streams and acidification of oceans when discharged. Crushed autoclaved aerated concrete (CAAC), a by-product from demolition, has shown great potential for recovering P. The potential of CAAC to be used in nature-based solutions as a P-reactive filter medium was evaluated by performing preliminary batch essays. Here, we evaluated the interactions and main effects of the initial concentration of P (Pi; 5, 10 or 20 mg L-1), particle size (PS; 4 or 5 mm) and contact time (CT; 60, 180, 360, 720 and 1440 min) upon the removal. We performed physical and chemical characterization to understand the removal processes. Data collected were fitted in adsorption kinetic models. The statistical analysis showed a significant interaction between CT and Pi, with the combination of its main effects stronger on P removal than each one separately. Intriguingly, we noticed that the higher the concentration of Pi, the faster and higher the removal of P. Contrary to expectations, PS 5mmshowed higher removal rates than PS 4 mm, indicating that besides adsorption, other unidentified chemical processes are in place. Further studies using columns/pilots with real wastewater are recommended for a future follow-up

Readout electronics for LGAD sensors

In this paper, an ASIC fabricated in 180 nm CMOS technology from AMS with the very front-end electronics used to readout LGAD sensors is presented as well as its experimental results. The front-end has the typical architecture for Si-strip readout, i.e., preamplification stage with a Charge Sensitive Amplifier (CSA) followed by a CR-RC shaper. Both amplifiers are based on a folded cascode structure with a PMOS input transistor and the shaper only uses passive elements for the feedback stage. The CSA has programmable gain and a configurable input stage in order to adapt to the different input capacitance of the LGAD sensors (pixelated, short and long strips) and to the different input signal (depending on the gain of the LGAD). The fabricated prototype has an area of 0.865 mm × 0.965 mm and includes the biasing circuit for the CSA and the shaper, 4 analog channels (CSA+shaper) and programmable charge injection circuits included for testing purposes. Noise and power analysis performed during simulation fixed the size of the input transistor to W/L = 860 μm/0.2 μm. The shaping time is fixed by design at 1 us and, in this ASIC version, the feedback elements of the shaper are passive, which means that the area of the shaper can be reduced using active elements in future versions. Finally, the different gains of the CSA have been selected to maintain an ENC below 400 electrons for a detector capacitor of 20 pF, with a power consumption of 150 μ W per channel

Design, implementation and testing of 3Cat-4 subsystems

Inside the Fly Your Satellite! competition framework, the 3Cat-4 nanosatellite developed by the NanoSat Lab constitutes an educational project designed and built primarily in-house. Within the satellite, this work focuses on the development of the Interface Board Subsystem; the design of its subsections, its implementation and the task of subjecting the subsystem to ESA qualification level testing. Interface Board Subsystem provides interconnection between other spacecraft subsystems as well as hosting the circuitry for the Hard Reset, which provides direct reboot capabilities and a full shutdown and restart cycle of the Electrical Power Supply. In addition, the board contains the Slider Switch; a mechanical assembly that acts as a security interlock, electrically isolating the battery cells from the power bus and serving as a separation spring, useful when the satellite is to be deployed in space

Percebem els errors de vacunació?

Errors de vacunació; Immunització; Seguretat dels pacientsErrores de vacunación; Inmunización; Seguridad de los pacientesVaccination errors; Immunization; Patient safetyIntroducció. Els errors en la vacunació poden provocar, entre altres coses, efectes adversos i disminució de la resposta immunitària. L’objectiu del present estudi és conèixer el grau de percepció d’errors en la vacunació i la freqüència amb què es produeixen. Mètodes. L’any 2017 es va aplicar una enquesta transversal–basada en 20 supòsits d’errors i 5 de no errors– al personal sanitari implicat en les vacunacions a la Regió Sanitària Camp de Tarragona, la de Lleida i la d’Alt Pirineu i Aran, el qual havia de valorar la percepció i la freqüència dels supòsits. Resultats. Van respondre el 31,4% (232/740) dels enquestats. El 92,7% (215) era personal d’infermeria i el 81,1% (188) feia més de quatre anys que administrava vacunes. Van valorar 5.800 supòsits (25 x 232): 4.640 eren errors (20 x 232) i 1.160 no ho eren (5 x 232). El 5,2% (304/5.800) van tenir dubtes a l’hora de decidir sobre si era error o no ho era. Els errors eren percebuts en un 68,7% dels supòsits (3.039/4.423) i els no errors, en un 68,2% (732/1.073). La concordança entre percepció i realitat va ser dèbil (Kappa=0,2763). El 21,0% eren conscients que havien comès un error alguna vegadaIntroducción. Los errores en la vacunación pueden provocar, entre otras cosas, efectos adversos y disminución de la respuesta inmunitaria. El objetivo del presente estudio es conocer el grado de percepción de errores en la vacunación y la frecuencia con que se producen. Métodos. El año 2017 se aplicó una encuesta transversal –basada en 20 supuestos de errores y 5 de no errores– al personal sanitario implicado en las vacunaciones en la Región Sanitaria Camp de Tarragona, la de Lleida y la de Alt Pirineu y Aran, el cual debía valorar la percepción y la frecuencia de los supuestos. Resultados. Respondió el 31,4% (232/740) de los encuestados. El 92,7% (215) era personal de enfermería y el 81,1% (188) llevaba más de cuatro años administrando vacunas. Valoraron 5.800 supuestos (25 x 232): 4.640 eran errores (20 x 232) y 1.160 no lo eran (5 x 232). El 5,2% (304/5800) dudaron en el momento de decidir entre si era un error o no lo era. Los errores eran percibidos en un 68,7% de los supuestos (3.039/4.423) y los no errores, en un 68,2% (732/1.073). La concordancia entre percepción y realidad fue débil (Kappa = 0,2763). El 21,0% eran conscientes de que habían cometido un error alguna vez. Conclusiones. La percepción de los errores en la vacunación y la formación en relación con esta cuestión son mejorables y habría que incrementar la formación en este sentido.Background. Vaccination errors can give rise, among others, to adverse effects and a diminished immune response. The objective of this study was to know the degree of perceived vaccination errors and the frequency at which they occur. Methods. In 2017, a cross-sectional survey (based on 20 errors and 5 non-errors assumptions) was made to health workers involved in vaccinations in the Tarragona, Lleida and Alt Pirineu i Aran health regions. These had to assess the perception and frequency of the assumptions. Results. 31.4% (232/740) answered. 92.7% (215) were nursing staff and 81.1% (188) had been administering vaccines for more than four years. 5 800 assumptions (25×232) were rated, being 4 640 errors (20×232) and 1 160 non-errors (5×232). When perceiving them as errors or non-errors, doubt was 5.2% (304/5 800). Errors were perceived in 68.7% of the cases (3 039/4 423) and non-errors in 68.2% (732/1073). The concordance between perception and reality was weak (Kappa = 0.2763). 21.0% were aware that they had committed a vaccination error at least once. Conclusions. Error perception and related training can be improved and training should be strengthene

"WETWALL” : an innovative design concept for the treatment of wastewater at an urban scale

Rising temperatures, increasing food demand and scarcity of water and land resources highlight the importance of promoting the sustainable expansion of agriculture to our urban environment, while preserving water resources. Treating urban wastewaters, such as greywater and hydroponic wastewater, may represent a strategic point for the implementation of urban farming, ensuring food security, reducing pressures on water resources and promoting climate change mitigation. The WETWALL design concept proposes a unique ecotechnology for secondary wastewater treatment at an urban scale, which brings the novelty of a modular living wall hybrid flow. This concept is based on the integration of two established nature-based solutions/ecomimetic designs: constructed wetlands and a modular living walls. First presented is an overview about the state of the art in the scope of living walls treating wastewater, in order to identify the main design aspects related to the performance of such systems, which mainly concerns the removal of nitrates and phosphates. Second, the WETWALL design concept is presented. A scheme regarding the selection of the main components, such as plants and substrate, is proposed, and potential structure developments and operation strategies are discussed. In addition, considering the scope of integrating the circular economy with the design process, potential interactions between this technology and the urban environment are discussed. The main goal of this article is to substantiate the potential of the WETWALL design concept as an innovative wastewater treatment at an urban scale.Peer Reviewe

Crushed autoclaved aerated concrete (CAAC), a potential reactive filter medium for enhancing phosphorus removal in nature-based solutions preliminary batch studies

Phosphorus (P) is a limited resource and can promote eutrophication of water streams and acidification of oceans when discharged. Crushed autoclaved aerated concrete (CAAC), a by-product from demolition, has shown great potential for recovering P. The potential of CAAC to be used in nature-based solutions as a P-reactive filter medium was evaluated by performing preliminary batch essays. Here, we evaluated the interactions and main effects of the initial concentration of P (Pi; 5, 10 or 20 mg L-1), particle size (PS; 4 or 5 mm) and contact time (CT; 60, 180, 360, 720 and 1440 min) upon the removal. We performed physical and chemical characterization to understand the removal processes. Data collected were fitted in adsorption kinetic models. The statistical analysis showed a significant interaction between CT and Pi, with the combination of its main effects stronger on P removal than each one separately. Intriguingly, we noticed that the higher the concentration of Pi, the faster and higher the removal of P. Contrary to expectations, PS 5mmshowed higher removal rates than PS 4 mm, indicating that besides adsorption, other unidentified chemical processes are in place. Further studies using columns/pilots with real wastewater are recommended for a future follow-up

WETWALL - an innovative design concept for the treatment of wastewater at an urban scale

Rising temperatures, increasing food demand and scarcity of water and land resources highlight the importance of promoting the sustainable expansion of agriculture to our urban environment, while preserving water resources. Treating urban wastewaters, such as greywater and hydroponic wastewater, may represent a strategic point for the implementation of urban farming, ensuring food security, reducing pressures on water resources and promoting climate change mitigation. The WETWALL design concept proposes a unique ecotechnology for secondary wastewater treatment at an urban scale, which brings the novelty of a modular living wall hybrid flow. This concept is based on the integration of two established nature-based solutions/ecomimetic designs: constructed wetlands and a modular living walls. First presented is an overview about the state of the art in the scope of living walls treating wastewater, in order to identify the main design aspects related to the performance of such systems, which mainly concerns the removal of nitrates and phosphates. Second, the WETWALL design concept is presented. A scheme regarding the selection of the main components, such as plants and substrate, is proposed, and potential structure developments and operation strategies are discussed. In addition, considering the scope of integrating the circular economy with the design process, potential interactions between this technology and the urban environment are discussed. The main goal of this article is to substantiate the potential of the WETWALL design concept as an innovative wastewater treatment at an urban scale