Indoor environmental quality in naturally ventilated schools of a dusty region: Excess health risks and effect of heating and desert dust transport.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is impacted by polluted outdoor air in naturally ventilated schools, especially in places where both anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient air pollution exist. CO2 , PM2.5 , PM10 , temperature, relative humidity (RH), and noise were measured in five naturally ventilated primary schools in City of Sanliurfa, in a dusty region of Turkey, Southeast Anatolia. Excess risk levels were estimated for particulate matter. Investigation was conducted through an educational year including two seasons in terms of anthropogenic effect, that is, heating/non-heating, and natural effect, that is, desert dust transport/non-dust transport. The median CO2 concentration was measured to be >1000 ppm in all seasons/schools. Temperature and RH fell out of the comfort zone in October-December, during which pollutant concentrations were considerably increased, specifically in November, that heating and dust transport periods coincide. The overall mean indoor PM10 and PM2.5 levels were 58 and 31.8 µg/m3 , respectively. Risk assessment indicate that both short (incidence of asthma symptoms in asthmatic children) and long-term (prevalence of bronchitis) effects are considerable with 10.9 (2.4-19.6)% and 19.5 (2.2-38.8)%, respectively. The findings suggest that mechanical ventilation retrofitting with particle filtration is needed to mitigate potential negative health consequences on children.

Do popular apps have issues regarding energy efficiency?

Mobile apps have become essential components of our daily lives, seamlessly integrating into routines to fulfill communication, productivity, entertainment, and commerce needs, with their diverse range categorized within app stores for easy user navigation and selection. User reviews and ratings play a crucial role in app selection, significantly influencing user decisions through the interplay between feedback and quantified satisfaction. The emphasis on energy efficiency in apps, driven by the limited battery lifespan of mobile devices, impacts app ratings by potentially prompting users to assign low scores, thereby influencing the choices of others. In this study, the presence of energy consumption issues within widely-used popular apps that have high app ratings and user interaction has been investigated through the analysis of user reviews. It is anticipated that popular apps, with high ratings, are less problematic than other apps. User reviews were collected from 32 apps across 16 diverse categories and subsequently filtered based on specific keywords. From the resulting pool of 14,064 user reviews, 8,007 reviews were manually identified as specifically addressing the app's energy consumption. The results of the study demonstrate that all 32 popular apps under consideration exhibit issues related to energy consumption. While the frequency of energy-related issues may vary, it is evident that users are concerned about app energy consumption, as evidenced by the reception of complaint reviews regarding their energy usage. App energy efficiency is important to users, including popular apps with diverse features, necessitating developers to address expectations and optimize for energy efficiency. Improving the energy efficiency of apps has the potential to enhance user satisfaction and, consequently, contribute to the overall success of the app.

COVID-19-related cardiomyopathy: Can dual-energy computed tomography be a diagnostic tool?

BACKGROUND: No study on dual energy computed tomography (DECT) has been found in the literature to evaluate possibly fatal cardiac/myocardial problems in corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Myocardial perfusion deficits can be found in COVID-19 patients even without any significant coronary artery occlusion, and these deficits can be shown via DECT with a perfect interrater agreement. AIM: To assess lung perfusion alterations in COVID-19 patients. To our knowledge, no study using DECT has been performed to evaluate possibly fatal cardiac/ myocardial problems in COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of DECT in the detection of COVID-19-related cardiac diseases. METHODS: Two blinded independent examiners evaluated CT images using the 17-segment model according to the American Heart Association's classification of the segmentation of the left ventricular myocardium. Additionally, intraluminal diseases and abnormalities in the main coronary arteries and branches were investigated. Following segment-by-segment analysis, perfusion deficiencies identified on the iodine map pictures on DECT were identified. RESULTS: The study enrolled a total of 87 patients. Forty-two of these individuals were classified as COVID-19 positive, and 45 were classified as controls. Perfusion deficits were identified in 66.6% (n = 30) of the cases. All control patients had a normal iodine distribution map. Perfusion deficits were found on DECT iodine map images with subepicardial (n = 12, 40%), intramyocardial (n = 8, 26.6%), or transmural (n = 10, 33.3%) anatomical locations within the left ventricular wall. There was no subendocardial involvement in any of the patients. CONCLUSION: Myocardial perfusion deficits can be found in COVID-19 patients even without any significant coronary artery occlusion. These deficits can be shown via DECT with a perfect interrater agreement. Additionally, the presence of perfusion deficit is positively correlated with D-dimer levels.

Electrochemical Degradation of Methylene Blue by a Flexible Graphite Electrode: Techno-Economic Evaluation.

In this study, electrochemical removal of methylene blue (MB) from water using commercially available and low-cost flexible graphite was investigated. The operating conditions such as initial dye concentration, initial solution pH, electrolyte dose, electrical potential, and operating time were investigated. The Box-Behnken experimental design (BBD) was used to optimize the system's performance with the minimum number of tests possible, as well as to examine the independent variables' impact on the removal efficiency, energy consumption, operating cost, and effluent MB concentration. The electrical potential and electrolyte dosage both improved the MB removal efficiency, since increased electrical potential facilitated production of oxidizing agents and increase in electrolyte dosage translated into an increase in electrical current transfer. As expected, MB removal efficiency increased with longer operational periods. The combined effects of operating time-electrical potential and electrical potential-electrolyte concentration improved the MB removal efficiency. The maximum removal efficiency (99.9%) and lowest operating cost (0.012 $/m3) were obtained for initial pH 4, initial MB concentration 26.5 mg/L, electrolyte concentration 0.6 g/L, electrical potential 3 V, and operating time 30 min. The reaction kinetics was maximum for pH 5, and as the pH increased the reaction rates decreased. Consequent techno-economic assessment showed that electrochemical removal of MB using low-cost and versatile flexible graphite had a competitive advantage.

Mitigation of organophosphate pesticide pollution in agricultural watersheds.

Adsorption and biodegradation processes for four organophosphate pesticides (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, fenthion, dichlorvos) in wetlands and agricultural drains in Meric-Ergene Basin, Turkey have been investigated. Koc (organic carbon normalized partition coefficient) values for all pesticides except diazinon were higher in more aromatic Pamuklu Drain sediments, indicating the possible influence of aromaticity on the extent of adsorption. The average half-lives of pesticides in Gala Lake sediments and Pamuklu agricultural drain sediments ranged from 2.25 to 69.31 days with chlorpyrifos exhibiting the slowest biotransformation rate and dichlorvos having the fastest biotransformation rate. The presence of humic substances and hydroperiod of wetlands have been identified as possible factors that affected the behavior of organophosphate pesticides in this study. The results from this study provide insight into the constructed wetland design offered for the mitigation of organophosphate pesticides in the basin.