scholarly journals Refrigeration of COVID-19 Vaccines: Ideal Storage Characteristics, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impacts of Various Vaccine Options

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1849
Author(s):  
Alexandre F. Santos ◽  
Pedro D. Gaspar ◽  
Heraldo J. L. de Souza

This article considers the ideal storage conditions for multiple vaccine brands, such as Pfizer, Moderna, CoronaVac, Oxford–AstraZeneca, Janssen COVID-19 and Sputnik V. Refrigerant fluid options for each storage condition, thermal load to cool each type of vaccine and environmental impacts of refrigerants are compared. An energy simulation using the EUED (energy usage effectiveness design) index was developed. The Oxford–AstraZeneca, Janssen COVID-19 and CoronaVac vaccines show 9.34-times higher energy efficiency than Pfizer. In addition, a TEWI (total equivalent warming impact) simulation was developed that prioritizes direct environmental impacts and indirect in refrigeration. From this analysis, it is concluded that the cold storage of Oxford–AstraZeneca, Janssen COVID-19 and CoronaVac vaccines in Brazil generates 35-times less environmental impact than the Pfizer vaccine.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-25
Author(s):  
Nur Amalina binti Mustafa ◽  
Muhammad Ashraf bin Redzuan ◽  
Muhamad Hazim bin Zuraimi ◽  
Muhamad Shuhaimi bin Shuib ◽  
Shahnaz Majeed ◽  
...  

Objective: Owing to the habit of consuming ready food among the citizens of Malaysia a study was conducted to evaluate 20 samples of canned soya milk for the presence of possible microbial content. The samples were collected randomly from shopping malls, restaurants and kiosk in Ipoh Malaysia. Methods: All samples collected across Ipoh, were subjected to test for presence bacteria in nutrient agar, blood agar and macConkey media. The possible microbial load was swapped from surface and soya milk content with a sterile cotton and streaked on nutrient agar, blood agar and macConkey culture media. The streaked petri plates were incubated for 48 hours at 37oC. Results: The study revealed negative microbial growth in all except two samples from the surface and soya milk content collected from a restaurant in nutrient agar and blood agar medium. The presence of microbes was conformed as gram positive staphylococcus sp. through gram staining. The positive growth may be imputed to poor storage condition at the restaurant. Conclusion: It can be computed from the study that the majority of the samples were free from bacterial growth, suggesting strong in house quality control mechanism at the processing unit and exquisite storage conditions in malls and kiosk suggesting that soya milk available in malls and kiosk are fit for human consumption.


Author(s):  
Martina Caruso ◽  
Rui Pinho ◽  
Federica Bianchi ◽  
Francesco Cavalieri ◽  
Maria Teresa Lemmo

AbstractA life cycle framework for a new integrated classification system for buildings and the identification of renovation strategies that lead to an optimal balance between reduction of seismic vulnerability and increase of energy efficiency, considering both economic losses and environmental impacts, is discussed through a parametric application to an exemplificative case-study building. Such framework accounts for the economic and environmental contributions of initial construction, operational energy consumption, earthquake-induced damage repair activities, retrofitting interventions, and demolition. One-off and annual monetary expenses and environmental impacts through the building life cycle are suggested as meaningful performance metrics to develop an integrated classification system for buildings and to identify the optimal renovation strategy leading to a combined reduction of economic and environmental impacts, depending on the climatic conditions and the seismic hazard at the site of interest. The illustrative application of the framework to an existing school building is then carried out, investigating alternative retrofitting solutions, including either sole structural retrofitting options or sole energy refurbishments, as well as integrated strategies that target both objectives, with a view to demonstrate its practicality and to explore its ensuing results. The influence of seismic hazard and climatic conditions is quantitatively investigated, by assuming the building to be located into different geographic locations.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 449
Author(s):  
Siriporn Okonogi ◽  
Adchareeya Kaewpinta ◽  
Pisaisit Chaijareenont

Carbamide peroxide (CP), a tooth whitening agent, is chemically unstable. The present study explores stability enhancement of CP by loading in a nanofibrous film (CP-F) composed of polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinylpyrrolidone/silica mixture, using an electrospinning technique. Kept at a temperature range of 60–80 °C for 6 h, CP in CP-F showed significantly higher stability than that in a polymer solution and in water, respectively. Degradation of CP in CP-F could be described by the first order kinetics with the predicted half-life by the Arrhenius equation of approximately 6.52 years. Physicochemical properties of CP-F after long-term storage for 12 months at different temperatures and relative humidity (RH) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that high temperature and high humidity (45 °C/75% RH) could enhance water absorption and destruction of the nanofibrous structure of CP-F. Interestingly, kept at 25 °C/30% RH, the nanofibrous structure of CP-F was not damaged, and exhibited no water absorption. Moreover, the remaining CP, the mechanical properties, and the adhesive properties of CP-F were not significantly changed in this storage condition. It is concluded that the developed CP-F and a suitable storage condition can significantly improve CP stability.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4209
Author(s):  
Rita Remeikienė ◽  
Ligita Gasparėnienė ◽  
Aleksandra Fedajev ◽  
Marek Szarucki ◽  
Marija Đekić ◽  
...  

The main goal of setting energy efficiency priorities is to find ways to reduce energy consumption without harming consumers and the environment. The renovation of buildings can be considered one of the main aspects of energy efficiency in the European Union (EU). In the EU, only 5% of the renovation projects have been able to yield energy-saving at the deep renovation level. No other study has thus far ranked the EU member states according to achieved results in terms of increased usage in renewable sources, a decrease in energy usage and import, and reduction in harmful gas emissions due to energy usage. The main purpose of this article is to perform a comparative analysis of EU economies according to selected indicators related to the usage of renewable resources, energy efficiency, and emissions of harmful gasses as a result of energy usage. The methodological contribution of our study is related to developing a complex and robust research method for investment efficiency assessment allowing the study of three groups of indicators related to the usage of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and ecological aspects of energy. It was based on the PROMETHEE II method and allows testing it in other time periods, as well as modifying it for research purposes. The EU member states were categorized by such criteria as energy from renewables and biofuels, final energy consumption from renewables and biofuels, gross electricity generation from renewables and biofuels and import dependency, and usage of renewables and biofuels for heating and cooling. The results of energy per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions per million inhabitants (ECO2), energy per capita, the share of CO2 emissions from public electricity, and heat production from total CO2 emissions revealed that Latvia, Sweden, Portugal, Croatia, Austria, Lithuania, Romania, Denmark, and Finland are the nine most advanced countries in the area under consideration. In the group of the most advanced countries, energy consumption from renewables and biofuels is higher than the EU average.


2014 ◽  
Vol 962-965 ◽  
pp. 1235-1238
Author(s):  
Mei Mei Hao ◽  
Xi Hong Li ◽  
Hai Dong Liu ◽  
Wei Qiao Yang ◽  
Chong Xiao Shao ◽  
...  

Under the condition of nine kinds of storage, In this thesis, through the determination of acid value of soybean oil, to search for the best storage condition, used to prevent the soybean oil acid value rise, through the analysis of the acid value data, We find the best storage condition, is 0°C, 6% moisture content, and PVC plastic wrap packaging.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahryar Habibi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to design a zero-energy home, which is known to be capable of balancing its own energy production and consumption close to zero. Development of low-energy homes and zero-net energy houses (ZEHs) is vital to move toward energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment. To achieve zero or low energy targets in homes, it is essential to use the design process that minimizes the need for active mechanical systems. Design/methodology/approach The methodology discussed in this paper consists of an interfacing building information modeling (BIM) tool and a simulation software to determine the potential influence of phase change materials on designing zero-net energy homes. Findings BIM plays a key role in advancing methods for architects and designers to communicate through a common software platform, analyze energy performance through all stages of the design and construction process and make decisions for improving energy efficiency in the built environment. Originality/value This paper reviews the literature relevant to the role of BIM in helping energy simulation for the performance of residential homes to more advanced levels and in modeling the integrated design process of ZEHs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roshmi Sen ◽  
Shankha Pratim Bhattacharya ◽  
Subrata Chattopadhyay

<p>There is a strong positive correlation between thermal comfort quality experienced inside a building and its energy efficiency. This is more obvious in case of mechanically ventilated spaces where the energy gains are directly related to the thermal load, as compared to free running or naturally ventilated spaces. Current state of arts assess the energy efficiency of building envelops in terms of the cumulative thermal load in the operating phase of the building that are catered by mechanical ventilations. Our study aims at addressing this gap of research in assessing the thermal comfort quality of naturally ventilated residential living spaces. Our study is designed in a warm-humid climate setting and in the context of affordable mass housing in the developing world where mechanical ventilation is unaffordable or affordable only for a definite period of the day and during peak summer seasons; such buildings are said to be operating in temporal mixed mode.</p><p>Affordable mass housing constitutes 95% housing demand in the residential sector in India. Various alternative materials and composite roofing and walling envelops have been envisioned in the past decade for such constructions, however, their effectiveness in terms of comfort quality has not been assessed for naturally ventilated envelops. Our study introduces a model to assess the thermal performance of naturally ventilated bedrooms constructed with alternate building envelop configurations. We attempt to review  and compare alternative walling technologies and the currently emerging mass housing construction systems in India with the base case housing envelop constructions commonly in practice in India that use ordinary burnt clay brick walls and reinforced concrete roofs. We compare the thermal comfort purveyed in the indoor bedroom spaces using the adaptive thermal comfort model in EN15251 as thermal neutrality temperature. We assess and compare alternative envelop performance using two measuring thermal comfort indices suited for naturally ventilated scenarios - the discomfort hours index and the cooling indoor degree hours index. Discomfort hours measures the number of hours of discomfort experienced during the summer solstice and spring equinox months whereas the cooling indoor degree hours measures the cumulative average temperature elevation from the comfort temperature in the hours marked as discomfort hours. In our study, light gauge steel framed structure with foam concrete filling records the minimum number of discomfort hours, however purveys maximum cooling indoor degree hours.</p><p>The above two comfort indices have not been compared in the past to assess the thermal comfort quality in naturally ventilated or temporal mixed mode buildings. Our study frames a thermal comfort assessment model for naturally ventilated envelops and thereby offers a paradigm shift from life cycle cooling load minimization models which are appropriate for mechanically conditioned spaces. Our observations are also important for mass housing envelop selection and in the context of the current policy frameworks in the developing world, aimed at minimizing the projected demand for residential space cooling and future energy footprints in the housing sector.</p>


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Rahman ◽  
A. A. Khan ◽  
M. E. Ali ◽  
I. H. Mian ◽  
A. M. Akanda ◽  
...  

Extracts from eleven different plant species such as jute (Corchorus capsularisL.), cheerota (Swertia chiraitaHam.), chatim (Alstonia scholarisL.), mander (Erythrina variegata), bael (Aegle marmelosL.), marigold (Tagetes erecta), onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativumL.), neem (Azadiracta indica), lime (Citrus aurantifolia), and turmeric (Curcuma longaL.) were tested for antibacterial activity against potato soft rot bacteria,E. carotovorasubsp.carotovora (Ecc)P-138, underin vitroand storage conditions. Previously,EccP-138 was identified as the most aggressive soft rot bacterium in Bangladeshi potatoes. Of the 11 different plant extracts, only extracts from dried jute leaves and cheerota significantly inhibited growth ofEccP-138in vitro. Finally, both plant extracts were tested to control the soft rot disease of potato tuber under storage conditions. In a 22-week storage condition, the treated potatoes were significantly more protected against the soft rot infection than those of untreated samples in terms of infection rate and weight loss. The jute leaf extracts showed more pronounced inhibitory effects onEcc-138 growth both inin vitroand storage experiments.


2013 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingxin Wang ◽  
Yu Shi ◽  
Xunfeng Xia ◽  
Dinglong Li ◽  
Qun Chen

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 2319-2324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murlidhar J. Sadawarti ◽  
K. K. Pandey ◽  
B. P. Singh ◽  
R. K. Samadiya

Potato microtubers plays important role in seed potato production technology as it has great advantage of storage, transport and mechanization due to their little size and reduced weight. Dormancy in potato microtubers is very important and storage conditions as well as size of microtubers influences the dormancy in microtubers. Increasing size of the micro-tuber resulted in significant increase in the viability and sprouting ability of microtubers with reduced durations of dormancy and weight loss at the end of storage. Small microtubers are more vulnerable to storage damage. The larger microtubers lost moisture content more slowly and retained firmness longer when stored at 40C. Development of dormancy during storage strongly affected by the storage condition especially the temperature regime, the presence of light and the relative humidity. The dormancy duration was linearly and inversely correlated with the length of storage. Storage containers and conditions are also important for microtuber storage. Endogenous hormones ABA, ethylene, cyokinin and gibberllic acid play a significant role in tuber dormancy regulation.Microtubers with thick diameter which have passed more times in dormancy and have better functionality than small microtubers with less time in dormancy. Growth regulators like gibberellic acid, thiourea, gibberllic acid + thiourea, randite and carbon disulphide plays significant role in dormancy breaking of microtubers.


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