Mental symptoms among Finnish farm entrepreneurs

v2009o

Performance of Surgical Stress Index during Sevoflurane-Fentanyl and Isoflurane-Fentanyl Anesthesia

The performance of recently introduced Surgical Stress Index (SSI), based on heart rate and photoplethysmography, was estimated during sevoflurane-fentanyl and isoflurane-fentanyl anesthesia during surgical procedures. Forty ASA I–III patients were enrolled. Anesthesia was induced with fentanyl 2 μg kg−1 and thiopentone 3–5 mg kg−1. Tracheal intubation was performed 5 minutes after fentanyl bolus. Patients were randomly allocated to receive sevoflurane (n = 20) or isoflurane (n = 20) in 30% oxygen/air. State entropy was kept at 40–60, target being 50. During surgery, fentanyl boluses 1.5 μg kg−1 were given at 30–40-minute intervals. SSI increased significantly after intubation. During surgery, the decrease of SSI after fentanyl boluses was similar in sevoflurane and isoflurane groups but SSI values were higher in sevoflurane than in isoflurane group. Tracheal intubation, skin incision, and surgical stimuli increased SSI from baseline, indicating that nociceptive stimuli increase SSI. Fentanyl boluses during surgery decreased SSI, indicating that increasing analgesia decreases SSI

Empirical investigation to explore potential gains from the amalgamation of Phase Changing Materials (PCMs) and wood shavings

The reduction of gained heat, heat peak shifting and the mitigation of air temperature fluctuations are some desirable properties that are sought after in any thermal insulation system. It cannot be overstated that these factors, in addition to others, govern the performance of such systems thus their effect on indoor ambient conditions. The effect of such systems extends also to Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that are set up to operate optimally in certain conditions. Where literature shows that PCMs and natural materials such as wood-shavings can provide efficient passive insulation for buildings, it is evident that such approaches utilise methods that are of a degree of intricacy which requires specialist knowledge and complex techniques, such as micro-encapsulation for instance. With technical and economic aspects in mind, an amalgam of PCM and wood-shavings has been created for the purpose of being utilised as a feasible thermal insulation. The amalgamation was performed in the simplest of methods, through submerging the wood shavings in PCM. An experimental procedure was devised to test the thermal performance of the amalgam and compare this to the performance of the same un-amalgamated materials. Comparative analysis revealed that no significant thermal gains would be expected from such amalgamation. However, significant reduction in the total weight of the insulation system would be achieved that, in this case, shown to be up to 20.94%. Thus, further reducing possible strains on structural elements due to the application of insulation on buildings. This can be especially beneficial in vernacular architectural approaches where considerably large amounts and thicknesses of insulations are used. In addition, cost reduction could be attained as wood shavings are significantly cheaper compared to the cost of PCMs

Natural weathering of soft- and hardwoods modified by contact and flame charring methods

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Exterior cladding boards benefit from a known service life that makes planning of maintenance and replacement procedures easier. Among the different wood modification methods, surface charring of wood is expected to increase the lifespan of wooden elements in building façades. This paper reports the properties of surface charred Norway spruce, Scots pine and Silver birch in Southern Finnish climate over a natural weathering period of one year. Several modifications were examined, namely variants of contact and flame charring. These also included oiled and brushed surfaces. The flame charred samples of spruce and birch withstood the weathering well, with some minor flaking and cracking. The thick pine samples cracked extensively regardless of modification, raising questions on suitable density and thickness of wood destined for a charring modification. Contact charring did not seem suitable for outside uses at least in direct sunlight, as the colors faded, and surfaces cracked within all examined groups. The spectroscopical methods employed also revealed degradation of contact charred wood lignin, whereas the flame charred surface consisted mostly of recalcitrant carbon structures rather inert towards weathering. This highlights the importance of sufficient structural degradation of wood components in creating a weathering resistant surface, and also shows that a thicker thermally modified layer does not necessarily improve the weatherability in contact charred wood.Peer reviewe

Stress among Finnish farm entrepreneurs

v2008o