Brandsäkerhet i lantbruksbyggnader

Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka tankar och resonemang angående brandsäkerhet hos lantbrukare som varit drabbade av en större brand. Detta gör vi för att förmedla kunskap angående brandsäkerhet till lantbrukare som planerar att förändra eller uppföra nya driftsbyggnader. I dagsläget drabbar cirka en av tio bränder i Sverige lantbruket. Kostnaden för skadade lantbruksbyggnader uppgår årligen till 300-400 miljoner kronor. Statistiskt sett drabbas en gård av brand var 20:e år och då är de mindre brandtillbuden inte medräknade i statistiken. I lantbruksbyggnader är el en genomgående faktor som har stor betydelse för vilken risk gården befinner sig i. I dagsläget går det att härleda cirka 20 % av bränderna till fel eller brister i elanläggning. Lantbruket är en komplex bransch med mycket teknik som skall klara av påfrestningar från olika miljöer. Efterhand som utvecklingen av teknik går framåt blir en allt större del av hjälpmedlen i lantbruket automatiserat. Vid större användning av automatiserad utrustning ökas samtidigt risken att en brand uppstår utan att personal finns i närheten. För att få ett fullgott brandskydd är det viktigt att hela gården systematiskt blir genomgången. Allt ifrån att det är en ren och städad arbetsplats till att det finns brandsläckare placerat inom räckhåll. I vår litteraturstudie går vi bland annat igenom eventuella brandorsaker, exempel på hur brandsektionering och brandceller kan utformas samt information om brandvarnande system och lämplig släckningsutrustning i lantbruket. Vi har valt att använda oss av en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer där fyra lantbrukare som varit utsatta för brand inom de senaste fem åren deltog samt en representant från ett försäkringsbolag. Vi har avgränsat vår studie till att fokusera på lantbrukarnas egna tankar och reflektioner samt att de är aktiva i Skåne och södra Halland. I studien har vi arbetat efter ett subjektivt urval vilket betyder att vi redan innan intervjun hade viss kunskap om våra informanter. Våra informanter är män mellan 45-60 år tillhörande samma försäkringsbolag. Omfattningen på skadorna i vår studie har varit mellan 1,5 miljoner kronor upp till nästan 50 miljoner kronor. Resultatet utifrån våra intervjuer är sammansatta utifrån våra frågor för att lätt kunna se vad de olika informanterna valt att svara. Utöver våra intervjuer med lantbrukarna finns också en sammanställning från intervjun med försäkringsbolaget som vi varit i kontakt med. Utifrån studien har vi kommit fram till att lantbrukarna generellt har en uppfattning om brandskydd men att en konsult står för den byggtekniska kunskapen. I de fall brandväggar har funnits har de bidragit till att skapa extra tid för att evakuera och utrymma byggnader under släckningsarbetet. Vi kom fram till följande slutsatser: God ordning är a och o för att minimera risken för brand. Städa upp på gårdsplan och i byggnader för att inte brännbart material skall vara lättantändligt. Brandväggar kan i regel inte stoppa en brand men den kan köpa dyrbar tid för att utrymma eller evakuera byggnader. Vid återuppbyggnad av byggnaderna har lantbrukarna endast följt LBK’s rekommendationer som försäkringsbolaget har gett dem och har inte kommit med egna förslag. Efter branden har lantbrukarna fått större förståelse för val av brandskyddande material samt att det finns tillräckligt med vatten vid släckningsarbetet. I lantbruket finns det generellt stora mängder brännbart material, även om byggnaden branden startat i inte går att rädda kan det finnas ett stort vattenbehov för att rädda intilliggande byggnader. Vid nybyggnation efter brand tänker lantbrukarna ofta på hur de själva kan påverka händelseförloppet vid en brand. Det kan vara genom förebyggande åtgärder, såsom fungerande släckningsutrustning och planering för att underlätta vid en potentiell ny brand, både i det akuta skedet och efteråt.The aim of this study is to investigate thoughts about fire safety among farmers who have been confronted with a major fire. We want to spread knowledge about fire safety to farmers who are in the planning phase of new buildings or are rebuilding existing buildings. Recent numbers state that one out of ten fires in Sweden occurs in the agricultural sector. The annual cost of damaged agricultural buildings is up to 300-400 million SEK. Electricity is a common cause of fire in agricultural buildings. Agriculture is a complex industry with lots of new technologies. As the development of technology advances, an increasing part of the agriculture is automated. With a more common use of technical equipment, the risk of fire increases. It is important that the whole system is controlled from a fire protection view to accomplish an adequate fire protection system. In the literature section of this thesis we include possible causes of fire, models of how fire compartments and fire cells can be designed as well as information about smoke detecting systems and appropriate fire extinguishing equipment in agriculture buildings. This study is based on a qualitative research method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect information from four farmers who were affected by fires during the past five years. A representative from an insurance company was interviewed as well. We limited our study to focus on the farmers' own thoughts and reflections. The participating farmers were located in Skåne and the southern parts of Halland. The interviewed farmers were all selectively chosen which means that we had some information about them before the interview. Our informants were four men between 45-60 years old, all customers at the same insurance company. The extent of the damages on their buildings was between 1.5-50 million SEK. We can conclude that farmers generally have basic knowledge about fire safety but that a consultant is responsible of specific knowledge. We have also discovered that firewalls are successful in decelerating the fire and creating more time to evacuate buildings and battle the fire. We reached the following conclusions: A well organized farmyard and buildings are essential to minimize the risc of fire. Clean away inflammable material. Fire walls cannot stop a fire but they can delay the process and offer increased evacuation time. The farmers have followed LBK’s recommendations given by the insurance company rather than trying own ideas when reconstructing buildings after a fire. The farmers have gained a larger understanding for fire protecting materials and the importance of having access to enough water to put out a fire. There is generally plenty of inflammable material in agricultural companies and even if the building where the fire started cannot be saved, it can be a high demand for water to save other buildings. The farmers often consider how they can prevent a new fire when reconstructing buildings. Preventive actions, a well working fire-extinguishing equipment and an action plan in case of a new fire, both during a fire and afterwards

Development of lipodisks as carriers for cationic amphiphilic peptides

Antibiotics have made a tremendous contribution to mankind. They are one of the most successful medicines in human history. However, more and more bacterial strains develop resistance and the risk to public health can hardly be overstated. New types of antibiotics are urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as potential antibiotics because of their broad-spectrum activities and non-conventional mechanism of action. More recently, they have also received attention as promising anticancer agents. The clinical and commercial development of AMPs as a new generation of antibiotics and anticancer drugs is hampered, however, by issues concerning the toxicity, specificity and stability of the peptides. The aim of this thesis has been to explore if formulation in a novel type of nanocarriers, referred to as lipodisks, can be used to increase the therapeutic potential of AMPs as antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Focus has been on AMPs classified as cationic amphiphilic peptides. Encouragingly, the data presented suggests that the therapeutic potential of the AMP melittin as an antimicrobial and anticancer agent can be substantially increased by formulation in lipodisks. When formulated in the lipodisk, melittin is protected against enzymatic degradation. The lipodisk also offer a slow-release effect that sustains the bacterial cell-killing effect. We also show that specific delivery of melittin to tumour cells can be obtained by formulating the peptide in small EGF-targeting lipodisks. Melittin contains a tryptophan residue and its interaction with lipodisks can be characterized by means of fluorimetric binding assays. In order to investigate the binding behavior also for peptides that lack intrinsic fluorescence, we developed a method based on measurements using the QCM-D technique. Studies using this, and other techniques, confirmed that it is a general behavior for cationic amphiphilic peptides to preferentially bind to the highly curved rim of lipodisks. Results of our binding studies show that the peptide to lipid ratio in the lipodisks can be tuned and optimized by varying the size and charge of the disks. Taken together, the findings in this thesis point towards PEG-stabilized lipodisks as promising nanocarriers for antibacterial and anticancer peptides

Bactericidal and hemolytic properties of mixed LL-37/surfactant systems

The interaction between acyl chain homologues (C10 and C12) of n-acyl beta-D-maltoside and the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 (LLGDFFRK-SKEKIGKEFKRIVQRIKDFLRNLVPRTES) was investigated. Emphasis was placed on peptide-micelle complexation and its consequences for peptide proteolytic stability, as well as bactericidal and hemolytic effects of the mixed systems. From circular dichroism and liposome leakage experiments, it was found that LL-37 interacts with both surfactants investigated, and that this reduces the effective free peptide concentration. Analogously, LL-37 displayed increased proteolytic stability towards Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase in surfactant solution. Despite this, conditions can be found at which the bactericidal effect of mixed peptide-surfactant systems is comparable to that of free LL-37. However also a number of challenges to this type of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) carrier system were identified, notably related to reduction of bactericidal effect for some systems, and occurrence of hemolysis for mixed peptide-surfactant systems displaying advantageous bactericidal effects. Any use of such AMP carrier systems will therefore have to be carefully optimized in order to retain bactericidal activity and minimize toxicity

Label-Free Characterization of Peptide-Lipid Interactions Using Immobilized Lipodisks

Lipodisks, planar lipid bilayer structures stabilized by PEG-ylated lipids, were in the present study covalently bound and immobilized onto sensors for quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) studies. It is shown that the modified sensors can be used to characterize the interaction of lipodisks with α-helical amphiphilic peptides with an accuracy similar to that obtained with well established fluorimetric approximations. The method presented has the great advantage that it can be used with peptides in their native form even if no fluorescent residues are present. The potential of the method is illustrated by determining the parameters describing the association of melittin, mastoparan X, and mastoparan with immobilized lipodisks. Both thermodynamic and kinetic analyses are possible. The presented method constitutes a useful tool for fundamental studies of peptide–membrane interactions and can also be applied to optimize the design of lipodisks, for example, for sustained release of antimicrobial peptides in therapeutic applications

Health literacy of inhabitants of Riga

Šī darba tēma ir “Rīgas iedzīvotāju veselībpratība”. Darba mērķis ir noskaidrot Rīgas iedzīvotāju veselībpratības līmeni un tā saistību ar izglītības līmeni, vērtējumu par savu veselības stāvokli un profilaktisku rīcību veikšanu. Lai sasniegtu darba mērķi, darbā tiek izmantota veselībpratības teorija. Balstoties uz iepriekš veiktajiem pētījumiem, tiek izvirzītas hipotēzes un tiek veikts empīriskais pētījums – interneta aptauja. Lai noskaidrotu Rīgas iedzīvotāju veselībpratības līmeni, aptaujas anketā iekļauti Eiropas veselībpratības pētījuma saīsinātā 16 jautājumu skala, ko izveidojis Vīnes universitātes Socioloģijas institūta profesors, kā arī Austrijas sabiedrības veselības institūta direktors Jurgens M. Pelikans. Pirmajā nodaļā tiek raksturoti veselības aprūpes sistēmas rādītāji un raksturojums, otrajā nodaļā iedzīvotāju veselību ietekmējošie paradumi, bet trešajā – iedzīvotāju veselības rādītāji un pašvērtējums. Tam seko ceturtā nodaļa ar veselībpratības jēdziena skaidrojumu, veselībpratības interpretāciju dažādu autoru darbos un ietekmējošo faktoru raksturojumu. Tam seko piektā nodaļa ar iepriekš veikto pētījumu aprakstu. Sestajā nodaļā aprakstīta empīriskā pētījuma metodoloģija, kam seko septītā nodaļa ar datu analīzi un astotā nodaļa ar diskusiju. Nobeigumā tiek izdarīti secinājumi. Pētījumā secināts, ka galvenais faktors, kas ietekmē veselībpratību, ir izglītība. Otrs nozīmīgākais faktors ir vecums. Hipotēzes par to, ka Rīgas iedzīvotājiem ar zemāku veselībpratības līmeni ir sliktāks vērtējums par savu veselības stāvokli un Rīgas iedzīvotāji ar augstāku veselībpratības līmeni biežāk veic profilaktiskas rīcības, daļēji apstiprinās.The subject of this Bachelor thesis is “Health Literacy of Inhabitants of Riga”. The objective of this study is to clarify health literacy of inhabitants of Riga and its relation with the level of education, self-reported health condition and preventive actions. In order to achieve the aim of the paper the theory of health literacy is used. Based on previous studies, hypotheses are formed and an empirical study is being conducted – an online survey. In order to clarify the level of health literacy of inhabitants of Riga, the questionnaire includes the shortened 16-question scale of the European Health Literacy Survey. The author of this scale is Professor of Sociology at University of Vienna, and also director of the Austrian Institute for Public Health, Jurgen M. Pelikan. The work consists of eight chapters. The first chapter describes the characteristics of the health system, the second chapter describes the health-affecting habits of the population, and the third chapter describes the health indicators of inhabitants. Then follows the fourth chapter with an explanation of the concept of health literacy, its authors and a description of the factors affecting it. The fifth chapter consists of a description of the studies previously done. In the sixth chapter the methodology of the study is described. There are data analysis in the seventh chapter and results of the study and discussion in the eighth chapter. After that, conclusions are drawn. The study concludes that education is the main factor affecting health literacy. The second major factor is age. The hypothesis about the presumption that inhabitants of Riga with a lower level of health literacy have worse self-reported health condition, and inhabitants of Riga with a higher level of health condition are more likely to take preventive actions, is partially confirmed

Label-Free Characterization of Peptide–Lipid Interactions Using Immobilized Lipodisks

Lipodisks, planar lipid bilayer structures stabilized by PEG-ylated lipids, were in the present study covalently bound and immobilized onto sensors for quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) studies. It is shown that the modified sensors can be used to characterize the interaction of lipodisks with α-helical amphiphilic peptides with an accuracy similar to that obtained with well established fluorimetric approximations. The method presented has the great advantage that it can be used with peptides in their native form even if no fluorescent residues are present. The potential of the method is illustrated by determining the parameters describing the association of melittin, mastoparan X, and mastoparan with immobilized lipodisks. Both thermodynamic and kinetic analyses are possible. The presented method constitutes a useful tool for fundamental studies of peptide–membrane interactions and can also be applied to optimize the design of lipodisks, for example, for sustained release of antimicrobial peptides in therapeutic applications

PEG-stabilized lipid disks as carriers for amphiphilic antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides hold potential as a possible alternative, or complement, to conventional antibiotics but new, safe and efficient means are needed for formulation and administration of the peptides. In this study we have investigated the utility of a novel type of lipid particles, the polyethylene glycol-stabilized lipid-disks, as carriers for the model peptide melittin. The structural integrity of the carrier particle when loaded with the peptide was investigated using cryo-transmission electron microscopy. Liposome leakage upon addition of the peptide-lipid-disks was monitored as a means to verify the membrane lytic effect of the formulation. The susceptibility of melittin to tryptic digestion was studied and compared in the absence and presence of lipid-disks. Finally, the antibacterial effect of the peptide-lipid-disk formulation was compared to that of free melittin after both single and repeated exposure to Escherichia coli. The results show that melittin can redistribute from the disk into a new host membrane and that formulation in the disks does not compromise melittin's membrane permeabilizing ability. Further, the peptide was found to be fully protected against degradation when bound to the disks. Time-kill experiments revealed that all the antibacterial effect of melittin administered in free form was gone after a single exposure to E. coli. In contrast, the disk formulation showed significant cell-killing effect also upon a second exposure to bacteria, indicating an extended release of peptide from the lipid-disks. These results suggest that the lipid-disks constitute a new class of promising carriers for peptide antibiotics