This project analyzes the validity of theoretical models used to predict the duration (hold time) for which a halon-replacement suppression agent will remain within a protected enclosure. Two current models and one new formulation are investigated; the sharp descending interface model (as applied in NFPA 2001, Annex C), the wide descending interface model (implemented in ISO 14520.1, Annex E), and the thick descending interface model (introduced herein). The thick interface model develops the characteristic thickness as an additional input parameter. Experimental data from 34 full-scale tests designed to characterize the discharge and draining dynamics of seven clean extinguishing agents (CEA) is used to assess model validity. For purposes of model validation the characteristic thickness is regressed from the experimental data although further work may be required to establish the independence of this parameter to other system design and environmental variables. Results show that the wide and sharp interface models' validity is highly sensitive to the threshold of agent concentration decay being modeled; whereas the thick interface prediction method demonstrates increased robustness at any modeled threshold. When the hold time is defined as a 15% decay in agent concentration, experimentally obtained hold time values are roughly 10% shorter than sharp interface predictions, 60% longer than wide interface predictions, and 30% longer than the thick interface model predicts.

Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is the term for a proposed new eating disorder, used to describe a pathological obsession with healthy or ‘clean’ eating. For individuals with ON, the obsession with eating ‘healthy’ foods, and the elimination of foods considered ‘unhealthy’ or ‘impure’, results in impairment to social, physical, occupational and/or other areas of functioning. Whilst there is still debate as to whether ON describes a distinct eating disorder, and there is no consensus around diagnostic criteria as yet, ON is an emerging topic for research, with more cases coming to light both clinically, and in the media. Although some quantitative research has been carried out in ON, particularly focusing on the measurement and prevalence rates of this proposed disorder, no qualitative studies have been published to date to explore individuals’ personal experiences of ON. Thus, for this project, 40 pre-existing blog entries describing first-person experiences of ON from fifteen women bloggers were analysed using thematic analysis. Five key themes were identified: 1) confusion around diagnosis, 2) initial motivations for a healthier lifestyle, 3) fuelling the problem- social influences, 4) when healthy becomes unhealthy ..., and 5) avoidance, isolation and compensation. The clinical implications of these findings were explored, particularly focusing on the social context of ON, diagnostic crossover between ON and other eating disorders, and the role of fear, perfectionism and perceived control. Whilst the debate around the diagnosis of ON continues, these bloggers’ accounts suggest that ON is experienced as a legitimate and debilitating disorder, worthy of clinical and research investigation in its own right.

Adequate wastewater management is a crucial element to achieve water sustainability in the petroleum refining sector, as their operations produce vast quantities of wastewater with potentially harmful contaminants. Treatment technologies are therefore pivotal for stopping these chemicals from entering the environment and protecting receiving environments. However, refining effluents are still linked to serious pollution problems, partly because little progress has been made in determining the causative agents of the observed biological effects, resulting in non-targeted treatment. Here it is shown that naphthenic acids, which have been reported as toxic and recalcitrant, are important components of refining wastewater resulting from the processing of heavy crude oil and that they have a significant contribution to the toxic effects exerted by these effluents. Furthermore, it was found that their chemical stability makes them highly resistant to remediation using Pseudomonas putida and H2O2/Fe-TAML (TetraAmido Macrocyclic Ligands) systems under laboratory conditions, and only sequential aliquots of Fe-TAML catalysts and H2O2 showed to partially degrade naphthenic acids (50 mg/L) within 72 hours. Results suggest that a combinatorial approach of Fe-TAML/H2O2 followed by biodegradation might improve current treatment options, but further optimisation is required for the biological treatment. These results can serve as a starting point for better environmental regulations relevant to oil refining wastewater resulting from heavy crude oil, as naphthenic acids are not currently considered in the effluent guidelines for the refining sector. Furthermore, the degradation of naphthenic acids under mild conditions using Fe-TAML/H2O2 systems indicates that these catalysts hold promise for the remediation of refining wastewater in real-life scenarios.

Education has contributed to a society-wide awareness of environmental issues, and we are increasingly confronted with the need for new ways to generate energy, save water and reduce pollution. Thus new forms of work are emerging and government, employers and educators need to know what ‘green’ skills South Africa needs and has. This creates a new demand for ‘green skills’ research. We propose that this new knowledge field – like some other educational fields – requires a transformative approach to research methodology. In conducting reviews of existing research, we found that a transformative approach requires a reframing of key concepts commonly used in researching work and learning; multi-layered, mixed method studies; researching within and across diverse knowledge fields including non-traditional fields; and both newly configured national platforms and new conceptual frameworks to help us integrate coherently across these. Critical realism is presented as a helpful underpinning for such conceptual frameworks, and implications for how universities prepare educational researchers are flagged.

This study examines the adoption of clean cooking technologies in developing countries with a focus on the ACE-1 advanced biomass stove (ABS). Marginalized communities in rural environments are often exposed to high levels of Household Air Pollution (HAP) due to the common use of traditional cookstoves. The United Nations (UN) has recognized the adoption of clean cooking technology like the ABS as a key driver and high-impact opportunity in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nonetheless, the context for adoption is complex. Adoption depends on numerous variables, that can enable or hinder the uptake of modern cookstoves. This study is based on the assumption, that adoption starts with the decision-making process and acquisition of the stove. Based on a field study in rural Cambodia, this research focuses on users at the initial stage of adoption. By means of questionnaire-based interviews, this study identifies how variables related to ‘fuel and technology’ and ‘household and setting’ affect the likeliness of adoption and what opportunities can be identified to facilitate the process of adoption. The study finds, that ABS-suitable biomass fuels are available and accessible in rural Cambodia. Besides, the production of renewable biomass fuels like pellets is growing, which provides opportunities for collaboration with stove distributors. The study confirms the common practice of stove stacking and points out the strong market presence of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stoves. Market activities need to consider these factors and highlight the competitive advantages of AB, namely fuel efficiency and cost savings. Finally, the impact of social influence and peer relations should be further researched and taken into consideration for sales and marketing activities.

A falta de acesso à energia elétrica e a todos os benefícios que ela pode trazer levou à elaboração desta pesquisa, tendo como foco principal o atendimento às necessidades básicas de saúde. Para a presente pesquisa estudou-se: o acesso à saúde no Brasil; a seleção de um município como piloto, em um estado brasileiro com baixo IDH (índice de Desenvolvimento Humano), precário atendimento básico à saúde e sem eletrificação rural; oss sistemas de geração de energia elétrica no Brasil, com destaque para os sistemas de geração distribuída; as tecnologias disponíveis no Brasil, para geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa; a definição de uma UBS (Unidade Básica de Saúde), quanto a compartimentos, equipamentos, consumo energético, baixa manutenção e facilidade na construção. Foi dimensionada uma Unidade Básica de Saúde, que atendesse a este município, resultando em um projeto de UBS e de um sistema de geração de energia para atender às suas demandas. Desenvolveu-se então um sistema de geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa, para a UBS, através da integração de painéis fotovoltaicos com célula a combustível que utiliza hidrogênio, e para a produção do hidrogênio, um eletrolisador para a eletrólise da água. O sistema proposto permite o funcionamento continuo desta UBS, com baixa manutenção, de forma sustentável, em qualquer região isolada, necessitando apenas da incidência da luz solar e de água, permitindo promover a saúde das populações carentes, residentes nos locais mais longínquos, fixando-as em seus locais de origem, sem causar impactos ambientais. / The lack of access to electric energy and all the benefits that it can bring led to the elaboration of this research, having as main focus the attendance to the basic necessities of health. For the present research it was studied: the access to health in Brazil; the election of a city as pilot, in a Brazilian state with low IDH (index of Human Development), precarious basic health attendance and without agricultural electrification; the electric energy generation systems in Brazil, with prominence for the distributed systems generation; the available technologies in Brazil, for distributed electric and clean energy generation; the definition of a BHU (Basic Health Unit), about compartments, equipment, energy consumption, low maintenance and easy construction. The BHU's size was calculated, for this city, resulting in a project of BHU and a generation energy system for its demands. A distributed electric and clean energy generation system was developed, for the BHU, through the integration of photovoltaic panels with fuel cells that use hydrogen, and for the hydrogen production, an electrolyser for electrolysis of water. The considered system allows the continuous functioning of this BHU, with low maintenance, in sustainable form, in any isolated region, needing only the solar light incidence and water, allowing to promote the health of the poor populations living 9in places most distant, fixing them in their places of origin, without environmental impacts.

A necessidade mundial de mitigação dos gases de efeito estufa (GEE) e a mobilização internacional para atingir os objetivos de redução estabelecidos pela Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas para Mudanças Climáticas (CQNUMC) deram abertura para que finalmente as energias renováveis pudessem ser utilizadas e aumentassem sua parcela na matriz energética mundial. No Brasil, a sólida indústria sucroalcooleira atualmente desenvolve projetos de redução de emissões de carbono no âmbito do Mecanismo de Desenvolvimento Limpo (MDL) do Protocolo de Quioto, por meio de 18 projetos baseados na geração de energia elétrica renovável excedente através da cogeração, com exportação para a rede elétrica nacional, deslocando energia marginal termelétrica de origem fóssil, em apenas 20 unidades produtoras paulistas. Neste trabalho foi projetado um cenário ideal de reduções de emissões, que considerou a adesão total de 151 usinas paulistas para a safra de 2006/2007, para cinco cenários patamares tecnológicos de cogeração, com queima de bagaco e também aproveitamento da palha. Foi utilizando os parâmetros tecnológicos elaborados pela Comissão Especial de Bioenergia do Governo do Estado de São Paulo e o fator de linha de base de 0,268 tCO2e/MWh adotado pelos projetos de MDL em operação no Estado de São Paulo. No cenário tecnológico mais conservador as emissões evitadas somariam 1.404.593 tCO2e/ano. Para o cenário ideal as emissões evitadas somam 12.199.443 tCO2e/ano. Para composição do cenário ideal também foram calculadas as emissões referentes à queima da palha da cana-de-açúcar. / The world-wide necessity of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) mitigation and the intergovernmental mobilization to reach the objectives established by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has opened space for the renewable energy increase in the worlds energy matrix. In Brazil, the solid sugarcane industry currently develops business in the scope of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyotos Protocol, by means of 18 biomass-based projects, with renewable energy generation through bagasse cogeneration at 20 São Paulo States sugarcane production units. The projects activitys consists of increasing the efficiency in the bagasse cogeneration facilities, qualifying the units to sell surplus electricity to the national grid, avoiding the dispatch of same amount of energy produced by fossil-fuelled thermal plants to that grid. The reduced emissions are measured in carbon equivalent and can be converted into negotiable credits. The objective of this dissertation was to build a state of art scenario, calculating the potential emissions reduction through CDM projects for the sugarcane sector of São Paulo State, in which we consider the adherence of all the production units of the State to the CDM projects. The technological parameters used to elaborate the scenario were provided by the São Paulo State Government Bioenergy Special Commission and the baseline factor used of 0,268 tCO2e/MWh was that adopted by the CDM projects in operation in the State. The sugarcane database for the calculations was the production ranking provided by UNICA for the 2006/2007 season. In the most conservative scenario 131 units could avoid the emission of 1.404.593 tCO2e/year. For state of art scenario, the units could avoid 12.199.443 tCO2e/year. Also have been calculated the sugarcane straw burning emission for the sugarcane harvested in 2006/2007 season.

A falta de acesso à energia elétrica e a todos os benefícios que ela pode trazer levou à elaboração desta pesquisa, tendo como foco principal o atendimento às necessidades básicas de saúde. Para a presente pesquisa estudou-se: o acesso à saúde no Brasil; a seleção de um município como piloto, em um estado brasileiro com baixo IDH (índice de Desenvolvimento Humano), precário atendimento básico à saúde e sem eletrificação rural; oss sistemas de geração de energia elétrica no Brasil, com destaque para os sistemas de geração distribuída; as tecnologias disponíveis no Brasil, para geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa; a definição de uma UBS (Unidade Básica de Saúde), quanto a compartimentos, equipamentos, consumo energético, baixa manutenção e facilidade na construção. Foi dimensionada uma Unidade Básica de Saúde, que atendesse a este município, resultando em um projeto de UBS e de um sistema de geração de energia para atender às suas demandas. Desenvolveu-se então um sistema de geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa, para a UBS, através da integração de painéis fotovoltaicos com célula a combustível que utiliza hidrogênio, e para a produção do hidrogênio, um eletrolisador para a eletrólise da água. O sistema proposto permite o funcionamento continuo desta UBS, com baixa manutenção, de forma sustentável, em qualquer região isolada, necessitando apenas da incidência da luz solar e de água, permitindo promover a saúde das populações carentes, residentes nos locais mais longínquos, fixando-as em seus locais de origem, sem causar impactos ambientais. / The lack of access to electric energy and all the benefits that it can bring led to the elaboration of this research, having as main focus the attendance to the basic necessities of health. For the present research it was studied: the access to health in Brazil; the election of a city as pilot, in a Brazilian state with low IDH (index of Human Development), precarious basic health attendance and without agricultural electrification; the electric energy generation systems in Brazil, with prominence for the distributed systems generation; the available technologies in Brazil, for distributed electric and clean energy generation; the definition of a BHU (Basic Health Unit), about compartments, equipment, energy consumption, low maintenance and easy construction. The BHU's size was calculated, for this city, resulting in a project of BHU and a generation energy system for its demands. A distributed electric and clean energy generation system was developed, for the BHU, through the integration of photovoltaic panels with fuel cells that use hydrogen, and for the hydrogen production, an electrolyser for electrolysis of water. The considered system allows the continuous functioning of this BHU, with low maintenance, in sustainable form, in any isolated region, needing only the solar light incidence and water, allowing to promote the health of the poor populations living 9in places most distant, fixing them in their places of origin, without environmental impacts.

A Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas, que tem como objetivo final a estabilização das concentrações de gases de efeito estufa em um nível que impeça a interferência humana perigosa no sistema climático, estabeleceu o Protocolo de Kyoto. O Protocolo é um instrumento que permite aos Países do Anexo I (aqueles historicamente responsáveis pelas emissões de GEE) os meios de atingirem suas metas de redução de emissões de Carbono. Para que as metas sejam atingidas, o Protocolo instituiu mecanismos de flexibilização, dos quais destacamos o Mecanismo de Desenvolvimento Limpo (MDL). O MDL prevê financiamentos de Países do Anexo I em atividade que resultem em reduções/seqüestro de Carbono em países Não Anexo I. O primeiro projeto de MDL registrado no Comitê Executivo no mundo é o brasileiro NovaGerar, objeto deste estudo. O propósito deste trabalho é discutir o Protocolo de Kyoto, o Mecanismo de Desenvolvimento Limpo e verificar suas oportunidades a partir do projeto NovaGerar. / The United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has as final target to establish the greenhouse gases concentration on the atmosphere in one level that impedes the dangerous human interference on the climatic system. The UNFCCC established the Kyoto Protocol, one tool which allows Annex I Countries (that ones historically responsible for greenhouse gas emissions) to achieve their reduction targets. The Protocol put in place flexibility mechanisms - to help Annex I Countries to achieve their reduction targets - among them we highlight the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM foresees Annex I Countries financings to activities which result in reduction/sequestration of Carbon in non Annex I Countries. The first CDM project registered in the Executive Committee was the Brazilian NovaGerar, subject of this study. The purpose of this text is to discuss the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean Development Mechanism and verify its opportunities based on NovaGerar project.

Preparing for a national weightlifting championship: A case series. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2019—This study aimed to characterize psychological, physiological, and performance changes of a high-level female (24.5 years; 53.8 ± 0.3 kg; 155.4 cm) and male (25.8 years; 92.7 ± 1.2 kg; 189 cm) weightlifter over 28 weeks while preparing for a national championship. Body mass, hydration, psychological inventories, serum biomarkers, vastus lateralis muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), and squat jump (SJ) performance were assessed weekly beginning 11 weeks from the competition date. Weightlifting performance goals were met for the female athlete (actual total = 159 kg) but not for the male athlete (actual total = 292 kg). Reductions in vastus lateralis CSA possibly took place the week leading into competition for both athletes. Both athletes reported positive recovery-stress states on the day of competition relative to baseline values. Fluctuations between steroid hormone concentrations and inflammatory markers were unpredictable and inconsistent for both athletes throughout the training program. Unloaded SJ height and rate of force development were the highest on competition day for both athletes. Based on these findings, it is possible for high-level male and female weightlifters to achieve and maintain peak preparedness 3–4 days before competition following a 1-week overreach and 3-week exponential taper, where training volume-load is reduced by half and intensity maintained or slightly increased relative to pretaper values. Furthermore, the short recovery and stress scale and SJ testing seem to be useful tools for sport scientists and coaches when monitoring high-level weightlifters preparing for competition.