Adverse Cardiovascular Effects and Drug Interactions with Herbs

The herbs are plants or products of plants and despite their widespread promotion, their purity, efficacy and safety are often unknown. The healthcare professionals may be asked to give advice on the use of these products, in conjunction with other medications .Thus, they can potentially interact with the cardiovascular drugs with subsequent dramatic effects on the coagulation pathways and the platelets adhesion. The administration of the herbs in patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases should be done sparingly, with caution and with thorough knowledge of their possible interactions with the already prescribed drugs

Evaluation of the economic value of the Assopos underground water basin with contingent valuation method

106 σ.Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Περιβάλλον και Ανάπτυξη”Αντικείμενο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας, αποτελεί η εκτίμηση της οικονομικής αξίας των υπογείων νερών της λεκάνης του Ασωπού, με τη Μέθοδο Υποθετικής Αξιολόγησης. Η συγκεκριμένη περιοχή επιλέχτηκε λόγω της ποιοτικής υποβάθμισης των υπόγειων νερών, η οποία έχει οδηγήσει σε σειρά περιβαλλοντικών, κοινωνικών και οικονομικών προβλημάτων. Η οικονομική αποτίμηση της αξίας των υπόγειων νερών στηρίχτηκε στην προθυμία εθελοντικής οικονομικής συνεισφοράς των νοικοκυριών της Αττικής για την αντιμετώπιση του προβλήματος. Συγκεκριμένα, η έρευνα πραγματοποιήθηκε σε δείγμα 400 νοικοκυριών του Λεκανοπεδίου Αττικής που επιλέχθηκαν με τυχαία δειγματοληψία. Η συλλογή των δεδομένων έγινε με χρήση ερωτηματολογίων, τα οποία συμπληρώθηκαν μέσω τηλεφωνικής συνέντευξης το διάστημα Νοέμβριος 2011 - Απρίλιος 2012. Το υποθετικό σενάριο αποτίμησης πρότεινε τη δημιουργία ενός φορέα ειδικού σκοπού, ο οποίος θα έχει ως αντικείμενο το σχεδιασμό και την υλοποίηση όλων των σχετικών ενεργειών και δράσεων για την αποκατάσταση του υπόγειου υδροφορέα της περιοχής μελέτης σε χρονικό διάστημα δέκα ετών. Οι απαιτούμενοι πόροι για τη δημιουργία και λειτουργία του ανωτέρω φορέα θα προέλθουν από την εθελοντική συνεισφορά των νοικοκυριών, μέσω ετήσιων συνδρομών για μια δεκαετή περίοδο. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας αναδεικνύουν την οικονομική διάσταση της περιβαλλοντικής ζημιάς που έχουν υποστεί τα υπόγεια νερά του Ασωπού ποταμού από την χρόνια ανεξέλεγκτη διάθεση των βιομηχανικών, κυρίως, αποβλήτων. Η εκτίμηση της προθυμίας πληρωμής έγινε με διαφορετικές προσεγγίσεις. Σύμφωνα με τη μη παραμετρική εκτίμηση της κατώτερης μέσης τιμής, τα νοικοκυριά της Αττικής προτίθενται να πληρώσουν 51,7 € ανά έτος για τα επόμενα δέκα έτη. Με βάση την προσέγγιση της παρεμβολής, η μέση προθυμία πληρωμής υπολογίστηκε σε 67,3 € ανά νοικοκυριό και έτος. Τέλος, η μέση ετήσια προθυμία πληρωμής, με βάση τα αποτελέσματα της παραμετρικής ανάλυσης, εκτιμήθηκε σε 69,2 €. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τον αριθμό των νοικοκυριών του Λεκανοπεδίου Αττικής, η ετήσια αθροιστική αξία κυμαίνεται μεταξύ 68 και 92 εκατ. € περίπου. Συνεπώς, για τη συνολική διάρκεια του συγκεκριμένου σχεδίου δράσης (10 χρόνια), η παρούσα αξία (με πραγματικό επιτόκιο 5%) κυμαίνεται μεταξύ 530 και 710 εκατ. €.The present thesis aims at estimating the economic value of groundwater of the Asopos River basin aquifer by means of the Contingent Valuation Method. The study was conducted in the wider area of Athens, and the economic valuation of groundwater resources was based on households’ willingness to pay a yearly voluntary contribution for the creation of an independent organization that will take the responsibility to restore the affected groundwater in the next 10 years. CVM answers were collected from a sample of 400 households by means of telephone interviews. The campaign took place in November 2011 – April 2012. The survey reveals the economic value of groundwater resources and, consequently, the economic damage caused by the uncontrolled discharge of liquid waste in the area of interest. More specifically, the results indicate that households are willing to pay a voluntary contribution that ranges between 51.7 € per year and 69.2 € per year. Considering the population of interest, the annual aggregated value is estimated between 68 and 92 million €. Given that the hypothetical scenario provides for a ten-year contribution, the present value of the stream of payments lies between 530 and 710 million €, assuming a social discount rate of 5%. This value could be seen as the amount of money that the local society, as a whole, is willing to pay in order to restore the groundwater resources under investigation.Ιωάννης Α. Σακελλάρη

Oxidative potential and chemical composition of PM2.5 in office buildings across Europe – The OFFICAIR study

In the frame of the OFFICAIR project, indoor and outdoor PM2.5 samples were collected in office buildings across Europe in two sampling campaigns (summer and winter). The ability of the particles to deplete physiologically relevant antioxidants (ascorbic acid (AA), reduced glutathione (GSH)) in a synthetic respiratory tract lining fluid, i.e., oxidative potential (OP), was assessed. Furthermore, the link between particulate OP and the concentration of the PM constituents was investigated.The mean indoor PM2.5 mass concentration values were substantially lower than the related outdoor values with a mean indoor/outdoor PM2.5 mass concentration ratio of 0.62 and 0.61 for the summer and winter campaigns respectively. The OP of PM2.5 varied markedly across Europe with the highest outdoor OPAA m-3 and OPGSH m-3 (% antioxidant depletion/m3 air) values obtained for Hungary, while PM2.5 collected in Finland exhibited the lowest values. Seasonal variation could be observed for both indoor and outdoor OPAA m-3 and OPGSH m-3 with higher mean values during winter. The indoor/outdoor OPAA m-3 and OPGSH m-3 ratios were less than one with 4 and 17 exceptions out of the 40 cases respectively. These results indicate that indoor air is generally less oxidatively challenging than outdoors. Correlation analysis revealed that trace elements play an important role in determining OP, in particular, the Cu content. Indoor air chemistry might affect OP since weaker correlations were obtained for indoor PM2.5. Our findings also suggest that office workers may be exposed to health relevant PM constituents to a different extent within the same building

Solution-based synthesis of few-layer WS₂ large area continuous films for electronic applications

Unlike MoS2 ultra-thin films, where solution-based single source precursor synthesis for electronic applications has been widely studied, growing uniform and large area few-layer WS2 films using this approach has been more challenging. Here, we report a method for growth of few-layer WS2 that results in continuous and uniform films over centimetre scale. The method is based on the thermolysis of spin coated ammonium tetrathiotungstate ((NH4)2WS4) films by two-step high temperature annealing without additional sulphurization. this facile and scalable growth method solves previously encountered film uniformity issues. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to confirm the few-layer nature of WS2 films. Raman and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the synthesized few-layer WS2 films are highly crystalline and stoichiometric. Finally, WS2 films as-deposited on SiO2/Si substrates were used to fabricate a backgated Field Effect Transistor (FET) device for the first time using this precursor to demonstrate the electronic functionality of the material and further validate the method

Spatial and temporal variation of particulate matter characteristics within office buildings \u2014 The OFFICAIR study

In the frame of the OFFICAIR project, office buildings were investigated across Europe to assess how the office workers are exposed to different particulate matter (PM) characteristics (i.e. PM2.5 mass concentration, particulate oxidative potential (OP) based on ascorbate and reduced glutathione depletion, trace element concentration and total particle number concentration (PNC)) within the buildings. Two offices per building were investigated during the working hours (5 consecutive days; 8\ua0h per day) in two campaigns. Differences were observed for all parameters across the office buildings. Our results indicate that the monitoring of the PM2.5 mass concentration in different offices within a building might not reflect the spatial variation of the health relevant PM characteristics such as particulate OP or the concentration of certain trace elements (e.g., Cu, Fe), since larger differences were apparent within a building for these parameters compared to that obtained for the PM2.5 mass concentration in many cases. The temporal variation was larger for almost all PM characteristics (except for the concentration of Mn) than the spatial differences within the office buildings. These findings indicate that repeated or long-term monitoring campaigns are necessary to have information about the temporal variation of the PM characteristics. However, spatial variation in exposure levels within an office building may cause substantial differences in total exposure in the long term. We did not find strong associations between the investigated indoor activities such as printing or windows opening and the PNC values. This might be caused by the large number of factors affecting PNC indoors and outdoors

Indoor gaseous air pollutants determinants in office buildings-The OFFICAIR project

The aim of this study was to identify determinants of aldehyde and volatile organic compound (VOC) indoor air concentrations in a sample of more than 140 office rooms, in the framework of the European OFFICAIR research project. A large field campaign was performed, which included (a) the air sampling of aldehydes and VOCs in 37 newly built or recently retrofitted office buildings across 8 European countries in summer and winter and (b) the collection of information on building and offices' characteristics using checklists. Linear mixed models for repeated measurements were applied to identify the main factors affecting the measured concentrations of selected indoor air pollutants (IAPs). Several associations between aldehydes and VOCs concentrations and buildings' structural characteristic or occupants' activity patterns were identified. The aldehyde and VOC determinants in office buildings include building and furnishing materials, indoor climate characteristics (room temperature and relative humidity), the use of consumer products (eg, cleaning and personal care products, office equipment), as well as the presence of outdoor sources in the proximity of the buildings (ie, vehicular traffic). Results also showed that determinants of indoor air concentrations varied considerably among different type of pollutants