How can electric lighting contribute to human health and well-being?

Electric light in buildings may provide some health benefits; however, for most people these benefits are likely to be small. It is possible for electric lighting to cause health problems, if there is too little light or there is glare, but for the most part there is good guidance available and these problems can be avoided. The quality of the lit environment can have a psychological impact and this may in turn impact well-being. A starting point for this is perceived adequacy of illumination. Related lighting metrics are examined and a hypothetical explanation is suggested.

Why do we feel burnout?

Here, using the mindsponge mechanism as the main framework, I would like to offer a hypothetical explanation for why we feel burnout?

Pollution, Particles, and Dementia: A Hypothetical Causative Pathway

Epidemiological studies of air pollution have shown associations between exposure to particles and dementia. The mechanism of this is unclear. As these seem unlikely in terms of the very small dose likely to reach the brain in usual Western urban circumstances, we extend our 1995 hypothetical explanation of the association of air pollution with cardiac deaths as a plausible alternative explanation of its associations with dementia. Since our original proposal, it has become apparent that inflammation may be carried by blood from organ to organ by biologic microparticles derived from cell membranes. These transmit inflammatory messages to endothelial cells throughout the body as part of a general defensive response to assumed bacterial infection; particulate air pollution has recently been shown to be associated with their release into the blood. We propose that episodic release of biologic microparticles from pollution-induced lung inflammation causes secondary inflammation in the blood-brain barrier and cerebral microbleeds, culminating over time in cognitive impairment. Ultimately, by incomplete repair and accumulation of amyloid, this increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Importantly, this mechanism may also explain the relationships of other inflammatory conditions and environmental factors with cognitive decline, and point to new opportunities to understand and prevent dementia.

Особенности фазообразования TbBO-=SUB=-3-=/SUB=- при изотермических отжигах

Detailed X-ray studies of changes in the structure of terbium orthoborate TbBO_3 in the course of successive high-temperature isothermal annealing of the initial mixture in the form of an amorphous precursor and in the form of a homogenized mixture of microcrystalline Tb_7O_12 and B_2O_3 powders have been carried out. It is shown that the formation of TbBO_3 crystals in both cases occurs through the formation of intermediate two-phase states. Particularly, the triclinic high-temperature ν-TbBO_3 phase is formed already at the first crystallization stages (about 600°C) almost simultaneously with the equilibrium vaterite modification of TbBO_3 (sp. gr. P 63/ mmc ) during low-temperature annealing of an amorphous precursor, which transforms into the vaterite modification at an annealing temperature of 850°C. The phase of monoclinic terbium trioxoborate TbB_3O_6 is formed at the first stages of phase formation (about 800°C) almost simultaneously with the vaterite phase when the feedstock is annealed in the form of a homogenized mixture of microcrystalline Tb_7O_12 and B_2O_3 powders. It also transforms into the vaterite modification at an annealing temperature of 950°, which is preserved up to the highest annealing temperatures in the experiment (1200°C). A hypothetical explanation of the formation of such two-phase states during low-temperature annealing of the feedstock and their disappearance at higher annealing temperatures is proposed.