The co-influence of noise and carbon dioxide on humans in the work and living environment

The aim of the paper is to investigate the co-influence of noise and carbon dioxide on people in different situations (inside/outside houses/classrooms) depending on the traffic intensity, the fuel used for heating in residential buildings etc.). All the measurements and the questionnaire have been carried out during the autumn of 2019 (at the mean temperature of 5–10 °C). Riga has a more intensive traffic compared to Tallinn and has greater problems of exceeding the permissible noise levels. The levels of carbon dioxide inside classrooms are also very high in Latvia (1,500–2,000 ppm). The concentration of carbon dioxide outside buildings is low in the forest areas (measured in the south of Estonia), being 340–350 ppm. In regional towns, it is 500 ppm (measured in autumn-winter near a busy street). The co-influence of noise and carbon dioxide on the residents has been investigated by using the Weinstein questionnaire. High carbon dioxide levels cause fatigue. Although it was not particularly pointed out by the residents questioned in a panel house with small apartments, the air was considered to be stuffy. The house is situated near a busy street, so the problems with noise are higher. ANOVA statistics has been used for the questionnaire (p < 0.001, α = 0.93). The decrease of noise and carbon dioxide levels help people stay healthy and the environmental impact from the investigation is emphasising the necessity and providing possibilities to decrease the concentration of CO2 in the ambient air

Modified Back Projection Kernel Based Image Super Resolution

In this paper, we propose a new super resolution technique based on iterative interpolation followed by registering them using back projection (BP). Firstly the low resolution image is interpolated and then decimated to four low resolution images. The four low resolution images are interpolated and registered by using BP in order to generate a sharper high resolution image then high resolution image is down sampled and back to the first step. The proposed method has been tested on some bench mark images. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index (SSIM) results as well as the visual results shows the superiority of the proposed technique over the conventional and state-of-art image super resolution techniques. In Average, the PSNR is 2.72 dB higher than the bicubic interpolation

Body mass index does not predict prostate-specific antigen or percent free prostate-specific antigen in men undergoing prostate cancer screening

Objectives: Body mass index (BMI) may alter serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) and percent free PSA (%fPSA) and may mask the risk of prostate cancer. We investigated the relationship between BMI and PSA or %fPSA. Materials and methods: Height, weight, PSA and %fPSA were assessed in 616 consecutive screened men without prostate cancer. Continuously coded and categorised BMI was studied. Statistical analyses consisted of ANOVA, linear regression, bivariate and partial correlations. Results: Median age was 57 years. Median PSA was 1.0 and median %fPSA was 26. Median BMI was 25.8 kg/m(2). Neither continuously coded nor categorised BMI correlated with either PSA or %fPSA in unadjusted or age-adjusted analyses (all p values >= 0.3). Conclusions: Body mass index does not affect PSA or %fPSA in men without known prostate cancer, who undergo prostate cancer screening. Therefore, PSA or %fPSA-based screening or early detection efforts do not require an adjustment for BMI. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination of disinfectant and/or sterilizing agents

Due to the growing number of outbreaks of infection in hospital and nurseries, it becomes essential to set up a sanitation program that indicates that the appropriate chemical agent was chosen for application in the most effective way. Validating the effectiveness of decontamination and disinfection is an important and often challenging task. In order to study and compare the behavior of selected microorganisms, they were submitted to minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). The MIC intervals, which reduced bacteria populations over 6 log10, were: 59 to 156 mg/L of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs); 63 to 10000 mg/L of chlorhexidine; 1375 to 3250 mg/L of glutaraldehyde; 39 to 246 mg/L of formaldehyde; 43750 to 87500 mg/L of ethanol; 1250 to 6250 mg/L of iodine in polyvinyl-pyrolidone complexes, 150 to 4491 mg/L of chlorine-releasing-agents (CRAs) and 469 to 2500 mg/L of hydrogen peroxide. Chlorhexidine showed non inhibitory activity over germinating spores. A. calcoaceticus showed resistance to the majority of the agents tested, followed by E. cloacae and S. marcescens.<br>Devido ao número crescente de surtos de infecção hospitalar, torna-se proeminente o estabelecimento de um programa de sanitização que liste os agentes químicos a serem empregados e o modo de aplicação mais efetivo. Validação da eficácia de descontaminação é uma tarefa ao mesmo tempo importante e desafiadora. Para estudar e comparar o comportamento dos microrganismos selecionados foram realizados ensaios de concentração inibitória mínima (CIM). A CIM capaz de reduzir o bioburden inicial (>6 log10) foi: 59 - 156 mg/L de quartenários de amônia; 63 - 10000 mg/L de clorexidina, 1375 - 3250 mg/mL de glutaraldeído, 39 - 246 mg/L de formaldeído, 43750 - 87500 mg/L de etanol 1250 - 6250 mg/L de PVPI, 150 - 4491 mg/L de compostos liberadores de cloro e 469 -2500 mg/L de peróxido de hidrogênio