New bio-containment unit protects health workers from COVID-19

A new individual bio-containment unit can protect healthcare workers lacking PPE from COVID-19 infection, a new study has found. Photo courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A new individual bio-containment unit designed to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 blocks 99.99% of the airborne respiratory droplets that spread the virus, a study published Thursday by the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine found.

The unit is intended for use at facilities with coronavirus patients, particularly those in which personal protective equipment, or PPE, is in short supply, according to the researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory, who developed it.

It's designed to protect staff member as they intubate patients who require mechanical ventilation support to breathe, the researchers said.

Intubation involves inserting a breathing tube down a patient's throat, and places doctors and nurses at risk for infection as viral particles are released into the air during the process, they said.

RELATED CDC: Nearly 30% of health workers with COVID-19 didn't know they had it

"The ability to isolate COVID-19 patients at the bedside is key to stopping viral spread in medical facilities and onboard military ships and aircraft," Cameron Good, a research scientist at the Army Research Laboratory, said in a statement.

Earlier attempts to minimize exposure to healthcare workers involved placing a plexiglass intubation box over a patient's head and shoulders, according to Good and his colleagues.

RELATED PPE shortages, little guidance plague home health workers during pandemic

However, the device wasn't able to keep aerosol droplets from leaking out and exposing caregivers to the virus, they said.

Because of concerns about the potential of airborne viruses to leak from the plexiglass boxes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently revoked its Emergency Use Authorization for these enclosures.

The individual bio-containment unit is designed to suck contaminated air out of the box with a vacuum and trap infectious particles in a filter before they seep into the room.

RELATED Study: COVID-19 risk 3 times higher for front-line health workers

For this study, researchers used a simulated patient -- a mannequin placed inside the unit -- and piped in an oil-based aerosol, which formed tiny droplets in the air, similar in size to the virus particles in breath that spread COVID-19, the researchers said.

The unit trapped more than 99.99% of the simulated virus-sized particles and prevented them from escaping into the environment, they said.

In contrast, outside of the passive intubation box, maximum aerosol concentrations were observed to be more than three times higher than inside the box, the simulation showed.

In addition to protecting providers during intubation, the unit also can provide negative pressure isolation of awake COVID-19 patients, supplying an alternative to scarce negative pressure hospital isolation rooms, as well as helping isolate patients on military vessels, the researchers said.

"Having a form of protection that doesn't work is more dangerous than not having anything, because it could create a false sense of security," said co-author David Turer, a plastic surgeon who recently completed his residency at the University of Pittsburgh and now is at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Turer and colleagues submitted an emergency use authorization application for the individual bio-containment unit to the FDA several months ago, and they are preparing to manufacture the devices for distribution.

If the agency grants the authorization, hospitals and military units will be able to use the device to protect healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients.

"It intentionally incorporates parts from outside the medical world," Turer said. "So, unlike other forms of PPE, demand is unlikely to outstrip supply during COVID-19 surge periods."

Study: Mexico, U.S. have had most health workers die of COVID-19

Registered nurse Wendy Gould inspects N95 masks at Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., on April 23. Amnesty's report Thursday said about 1,100 front-line health workers in the United States have died from COVID-19. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- More front-line workers have died of COVID-19 in Mexico and the United States than any other nations, according to a report by Amnesty International Thursday.

Amnesty's report said at least 7,000 health workers worldwide have died so far, with Mexico and the United States combining to account for nearly one-third of that total. The report cites about 1,300 front-line worker deaths in Mexico and 1,100 in the United States.
The nations with the next-highest tolls are Britain (649), Brazil (634), Russia (631) and India (573).

"For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale," Amnesty International Head of Economic and Social Justice Steve Cockburn said in a statement. "Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price."

Cockburn called for "global cooperation to ensure all health workers are provided with adequate protective equipment, so they can continue their vital work without risking their own lives."

The human rights organization said many of the deaths in Mexico were among hospital cleaners, who are especially vulnerable to infection due to a lack of protective gear.

The Mexican government has insisted for months that hospital workers have enough protective equipment, but medics have staged several protests in Mexico City to display what they called substandard gear.

Officials at the Pan American Health Organization said this week health workers have so far accounted for one in every seven COVID-19 cases in the United States and Mexico.

"We have the highest number of healthcare workers infected in the world," organization Director Carissa Etienne said. "Our data shows that nearly 570,000 health workers across our region have fallen ill and more than 2,500 have succumbed to the virus."

Etienne said scarce supplies of protective equipment early in the pandemic and slow implementation of triage protocols later contributed to the high infection rate among front-line workers, as hospitals became overcrowded and exposed them to the virus.

RELATED Study: COVID-19 risk 3 times higher for front-line health workers

Korean doctors call off strike, reach agreement with government

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo (R) and Choi Dae-zip, head of the Korean Medical Association, shake hands after signing an agreement Friday to end a nationwide strike by trainee doctors. Photo by Yonhap


SEOUL, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Thousands of striking South Korean doctors are ready to return to work as the Korean Medical Association and the ruling Democratic Party came to an agreement Friday that put a halt to the government's medical reform plans.

South Korean interns and residents have been on strike since Aug. 21 in response to governments plans introduced in July that would have increased medical school admission quotas by 4,000 over the next decade.

CRAFT UNIONISM

The five-point agreement signed Friday morning by the KMA and DP said discussions would start from scratch after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, with special commissions to be formed that include doctors, politicians and health officials.

Later in the day, KMA President Choi Dae-zip signed another agreement with Health Minister Park Neung-hoo to end the strike and call on trainee doctors to return to work.

RELATED Seoul lawmaker backtracks suggestion doctors be sent to North Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in reacted with relief on Friday, saying the agreement would "greatly reduce the public's anxiety" over the strike during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"I now look forward to the government and the medical community working together to overcome the severe situation of the coronavirus," he said in remarks relayed by presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok.

South Korea has been battling a surge in COVID-19 cases since mid-August linked to outbreaks at a conservative Presbyterian church and a large anti-government rally held in Seoul.

RELATED South Korea president threatens action against doctors on strike

The country has seen triple-digit daily infection numbers for the past three weeks, with widespread clusters and untraceable cases alarming health officials.

On Friday, South Korea reported 198 COVID-19 cases, continuing a slowing trend in new infections over recent days. Health officials decided to extend heightened social distancing rules for another week in the Seoul area, restricting restaurant operating hours and requiring chain coffee outlets to offer take-out service only.

Moon said he hoped the agreement between doctors and the government would "be the foundation for a better future."

"I hope this will be an opportunity to advance our healthcare system to the next level," he said.

The government has argued that reforms are necessary to prepare for future public health emergencies such as another pandemic, as well as to help rectify a regional imbalance between medical care available in Seoul and the rest of the country.

In addition to adding new doctors, the government had planned to establish a new public medical school, extend national health insurance coverage to Korean traditional medicine and expand telemedicine services.

CRAFT UNIONISM
Doctors and medical students have countered that South Korea does not need more doctors but a better distribution of existing resources across specialties and geographical location.

"Improving the qualities of resident training and working environment through constant communication with doctors should be on the top of the action list," Park Jee-hyun, president of the Korean Intern and Resident Association, a group that represents the striking junior doctors, said in a statement earlier this month.

CRAFT UNIONISM

Some of the trainees disavowed Friday's pact, with dozens coming out to protest at the Korea Health Promotion Institute in Seoul against what they called a "hasty agreement."

Public sentiment had turned against the doctors' strike amid reports of medical services being disrupted around the country and fear of the growing pandemic.

A survey by pollster Realmeter released Thursday found that 55.2% of respondents said they didn't agree with the doctors' strike, while just 38.6% agreed.

Environmental groups slam oil industry for betting $400B on plastics

Children play amid a dumping ground for plastic waste near the Arabian Sea coast in Mumbai, India. File Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA-EFE

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A London think tank said Friday the oil industry is investing $400 billion in plastics to help make up for anticipated losses in transportation, against efforts worldwide to mitigate proliferation of plastic waste.

A report by Carbon Tracker and environmental group SystemIQ said oil companies expect growth in plastics will be the largest driver for oil demand by 2040. The report said, however, the fiscal support runs counter to global campaigns for sustainable environmental change.

Major oil companies are expected to make large investments in virgin plastics, for example, as more electric vehicles hit the road and reduce the need for transportation-related oil.

"The oil industry is pinning its hopes on strong plastics demand growth that will not materialize, as the world starts to tackle plastic waste and governments act to hit climate targets," the groups said. "This risks $400 billion worth of stranded petrochemical investments, increasing the likelihood of peak oil demand."

The report said 36% of plastic is presently used only one time and 40% of the plastic produced ends up polluting the environment. Less than 10% of plastics are recycled, it noted.

"The plastics industry is a bloated behemoth, ripe for disruption," the report said. "Plastics impose an externality cost on society of at least $1,000 per ton, or $350 billion a year, from emitting carbon dioxide, associated health costs from noxious gases, collection costs and the alarming growth in ocean pollution."

Carbon Tracker strategist Kingsmill Bond said there's a breakdown between what oil companies need to profit from plastics and global efforts to slow pollution.

"The oil industry has polluted with impunity for 70 years but now they are going to be made to pay, by hook or by crook, for the huge costs that put on society," Bond said. "Remove the plastic pillar holding up the future of the oil industry, and the whole narrative of rising oil demand collapses."

The European Union this summer proposed a tax of $944 per ton for unrecycled plastic waste after China said it would ban single-use plastics in major cities by the end of this year and nationwide by 2022.

Antidepressant use rising in U.S., 

mostly in women, CDC says

The number of people in the United States taking antidepressant drugs has increased over the last decade -- with larger increases among men than women -- according to new CDC data. Photo by Sasint/Pixabay

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Nearly 18% of all adult women in the United States used antidepressant medication between 2015 and 2018, compared to just over 8% of men, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overall, during the decade between 2009-2010 and 2017-2018, antidepressant use increased to 14% from 11%, the agency found. Use increased more for women -- to 19% from 14% -- than for men -- to 9% from 7%.

In 2018, slightly more than 7% of adults in the United States said they suffered from a "major depressive episode," the agency said.

The findings are based on an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the 10-year period between 2009 and 2018.

Depression is a mental health disorder in which sufferers experience a persistent depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Antidepressant medications are used to reduce the symptoms of depression, and include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs.

From 2015 through 2018, antidepressant use increased with age and was highest among women aged 60 and over, at slightly more than 24%, the CDC found.

RELATED U.S. depression rates are triple pre-pandemic levels

In addition, use of the drugs was higher among non-Hispanic White adults, at 17%, compared with non-Hispanic Black adults, at 8%, and non-Hispanic Asian adults, at 3%.

Adults with at least some college education were more likely to use antidepressants than those with a high school education or less, the agency said.

Accused Kenosha, Wis., shooter's attorney resigns from role in $700,000 defense fund

Black Lives Matter supporters gather at the site where Jacob Blake was shot while President Trump visited Kenosha, Wis., on Tuesday. Photo by Alex Wroblewski/UPI | License Photo


Sept. 5 (UPI) -- An attorney for a teen accused of shooting protesters in Kenosha, Wis., has resigned from his position with a defense fund that has raised more than $700,000 for his client.

Attorney John Pierce, the lead attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, said Friday, that he resigned to avoid any "appearance of conflict," amid accusations that he has failed to pay about $65 million in debts.

Pierce and his firm have been accused of defaulting on millions of dollars from the firm's financiers, according to court documents.

Virage Capital Management claims Pierce's law firm defaulted on debt that current and former attorneys said built up over the past year.

RELATED 17-year-old arrested in shooting deaths at Wisconsin protest

Pierce said earlier this year that he failed to pay $4 million as part of a separate agreement with Karish Kapital for cash advances, according to court documents in New York. A Karish attorney said the judgment hasn't been satisfied.

Authorities indicted his client, Rittenhouse, last week on five charges, including two counts of homicide, related to a shooting on Aug. 25 that killed two people and injured a third during a protest in Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse, an Illinois resident, is accused of killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, with an AR-15 style rifle near the Civic Center Park in Kenosha, where protesters had gathered.

Black Lives Matter protesters were rallying to demand justice after an officer fired seven shots at close range of the back of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, on Aug. 23, in front of his children, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Pierce has said that Rittenhouse acted in self defense.

The fund for his client, called the #FightBack Foundation, was incorporated in Texas effective Aug. 12., according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, which was prior to the shooting with a broader mission to "bring lawsuits to stop the left's lies."

RELATED Democratic nominee Joe Biden to visit Kenosha, Wis., Thursday

Pierce was one of the co-founders of the foundation that has raised more than $700,000, along with Lin Wood, an attorney who won notoriety for representing Richard Jewell, who was falsely accused in the 1996 Atlantic Olympic bombing.

Wood, who is now the foundation's controlling member, said he had "no concerns" about Pierce's financial troubles.

"If everybody who needed a lawyer was forced to hire a pristine firm, nobody would ever be able to hire a lawyer," Wood said.

RELATED Trump promises millions to Kenosha, Wis., to rebuild after protests

Pierce's firm has also represented President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Trump embraced Pierce's argument that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense on Monday.

"I guess he was in very big trouble," Trump said. "He would have been, he probably would have been killed."

On Tuesday, Trump visited Kenosha and promised millions in funding to rebuild after protests he described as "domestic terror."

US Federal judge rules DeVos policy altering private schools' COVID-19 relief is illegal

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos lost a court battle Friday when a judge struck down her department's rule on pandemic relief funding for private schools as illegal. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A federal judge has struck down Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' rule that altered the share of COVID-19 relief funding private schools are allowed as illegal.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who President Donald Trump nominated to the court, ruled that DeVos violated the CARES Act, which required COVID-19 relief funding to comply with federal statute.

Section 1117 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 requires that federal funding for private schools be based on the number of low-income students. The CARES Act stipulated that the $13 billion that Congress set aside for K-12 schools in the CARES Act be distributed in that manner.

However, the Department of Education headed by DeVos, a billionaire who has advocated for private school vouchers, altered the funding formula Congress had laid out when it issued an interim final rule in July that said private schools could received the funding "regardless of low-income student population."

RELATED DeVos says gov't will still enforce school testing mandates

DeVos had argued that the text of the CARES Act was ambiguous, but the judge disagreed.

"In enacting the education funding provisions of the CARES Act, Congress spoke with a clear voice," Friedrich wrote in her opinion Friday. "It declared that relief funding shall be provided to private schools 'in the same manner as provided under section 1117."

Plaintiffs, including the NAACP, public school parents and school districts across the country, represented by the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, along with the Education Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center, lauded the ruling.

"The decision sends a clear signal that Secretary DeVos cannot use illegal means to advance her agenda of funneling scarce public resources to private education, to the detriment of our highest need students in public schools across the country," a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson said in a statement. "We are particularly grateful that the court issued this decision quickly so that public school districts do not lose any more time in meeting the urgent needs of their students during this pandemic."

WHITE PUNKS ON DOPE
Opioids leading cause of drug overdose deaths in first half of 2019

Opioids accounted for 80% of all drug overdose-related deaths in the first half of 2019, according to new CDC data. Photo by LizM/Pixabay

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- More than 80% of all drug overdose deaths reported across the country in the first half of 2019 involved opioids, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All of the 10 most common drugs or drug combinations found in overdose-related deaths during the first six months of last year included at least one opioid, the agency said.

Drugs used in these cases included illicitly manufactured fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and prescription opioid-based pain medications. Either alone or in combination, the five drugs were a factor in 77% of all drug overdose-related deaths.

"Three of four opioid overdose deaths involved illicitly manufactured fentanyl," the CDC researchers wrote. "[These drugs], heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine -- alone or in combination -- were involved in nearly 85% of overdose deaths."

RELATED Study: 7 of 10 hospital patients get opioids at move to nursing facility

Overdose death rates across the country in general dropped by 4.1 percent from 2017 to 2018, according to figures released by the CDC earlier this year.

Still, between 1999 and 2018, more than 750,000 Americans died following a drug overdose, the agency estimates.

The findings for the latest report are based on drug overdose death records in 24 states and Washington, D.C., for Jan. 1 to June 30 of last year.

RELATED NSAID painkillers less harmful, just as effective as opioid drugs, studies show

In all regions, overdose deaths involving opioids without stimulants were most common, followed by deaths involving opioids and stimulants and deaths involving stimulants without opioids.


RUST BELT JUNKIES
The pattern was most prominent in the Northeast and Midwest, where deaths involving opioids -- with or without stimulants -- accounted for 88% and 83% of all overdose deaths.

Among overdose deaths involving opioids, more than half of those who died were aged 25 to 44 years, and more than two-thirds of all overdose deaths involved men and three-quarters occurred in non-Hispanic White Americans.

RELATED Many deaths labeled cardiac arrest may be drug overdoses

"Evidence of injection drug use was more common among opioid-involved deaths than among deaths that did not involve opioids," the agency researchers wrote.

JUNKY WILLIAM BURROUGHS

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LITTLE GOD KING
Japan's Supreme Court endorses exclusion 

of pro-North Korea schools

Pro-North Korean schools in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, lost a case at Japan's Supreme Court, according to Japanese press reports on Friday. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Japan's Supreme Court ruled a Japanese government decision to exclude pro-Pyongyang Korean schools from state benefits is not illegal following multiple lawsuits filed by the schools.

The court said Thursday schools in Japan's Aichi Prefecture affiliated with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, the pro-North Korean organization known as Chongryon, are not eligible for subsidies, including coronavirus relief, because of the Kim family worship required among students at the schools, Kyodo News reported Friday.

The idolization of the ruling Kims at the school is "unjust," the court said.

Japanese policy toward pro-Pyongyang schools, affiliated with a group that channels financial support to North Korea, has changed with administrations.

In 2010, when the now-dissolved Democratic Party of Japan was in power, Tokyo included pro-Pyongyang schools in benefits including tuition-free education. When the conservative Liberal Democratic Party of Japan returned to power, the schools were left out from benefits, starting in 2013, according to South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh.

The North Korean schools have filed lawsuits in other districts, including Tokyo and Osaka, but lost their fight in courts. The schools have claimed they are the targets of societal discrimination.

Chongryon has operated for decades in Japan, running schools and banking systems. According to analyst Markus Bell, the group acts as a tax collector for ethnic Koreans in Japan who support North Korea. The organization sends billions of Japanese yen to Pyongyang, where the government may have not suspended the development of weapons of mass destruction.

In August, the Japanese government excluded pro-North Korean schools from receiving coronavirus relief, Tokyo Shimbun reported. The move came after Tokyo decided to exclude the schools from benefits such as free early childhood education.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has raised concerns about lack of state subsidies for the schools.

 

Inequality of opportunity drags down everyone's motivation

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Research News

 

Unequal compensation reduces people's motivation to work, even among those who stand to benefit from unfair advantages, finds a new UCL-led study.

The researchers found that large disparities in rewards offered for the same task reduce people's happiness, which in turn reduce their willingness to work, in the study published in PLOS One.

Lead author, Dr Filip Gesiarz (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "Here we have shown the psychological impacts of inequality of opportunity, and how it can hurt the productivity and well-being of everyone involved.

"Our findings may shed light on how psychological mechanisms, apart from structural barriers, can contribute to higher unemployment and lower university application rates of people from disadvantaged backgrounds. It's more difficult to motivate yourself to work hard if you know that other people will be more generously rewarded for the same effort."

For the study, 810 participants were asked to complete a simple task in exchange for some money. In different scenarios across three experiments, participants were told that other people were being paid more or less than they were for the same task, to varying degrees of inequality. They were given the option of refusing to work on a given task, and in some of the trials, they were also asked how they were feeling.

The researchers found that when people were told there were wide disparities in pay between them and their peers, they were less willing to work, including participants who were told that other people were being paid much less than they were.

The findings show how people are less motivated to work if they are being paid less than others, but also if they perceive the whole system to be unjust.

Dr Gesiarz said: "People who are economically disadvantaged might face a two-fold reduction in motivation and well-being - first due to their lower relative position, and second due to their reaction to the unfair distribution of opportunities."

The findings showed that a large disparity in rewards brought about greater unhappiness, which was in turn associated with lower willingness to work. People were more likely to refuse to work in an unfair scenario, even if they would benefit, and despite their refusal being a private decision that had no impact on other people's rewards.

The researchers speculate that the negative feelings caused by arbitrary disparities may in part explain why disadvantaged people are more likely to experience anxiety and depression.

Co-author Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (University of Oxford) said: "This study documents yet another example of a 'poverty trap': a situation in which being put at a disadvantage by random circumstances decreases a person's motivation to work, further worsening their situation."

Senior author Professor Tali Sharot (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "Whether inequality will negatively affect those at the top in 'the real world', outside the lab, remains to be studied. One thing to consider is that in our experiment, people were made aware that their position was randomly assigned. In the 'real world' people many times assume that their good fortune is justified by their talent and effort and therefore inequality might not have a negative influence on the motivation and well-being of privileged individuals in those situations. This is an important question that we hope to answer in the future."

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The study was funded by Wellcome.

 

Intelligent software for district renewable energy management

SWISS CENTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND MICROTECHNOLOGY - CSEM

Research News

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VIDEO: CSEM HAS DEVELOPED MAESTRO, AN INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE APPLICATION THAT CAN MANAGE AND SCHEDULE THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES FOR AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD. THE SYSTEM CAN PROCESS A FULL... view more https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/242156.php?from=476159

CREDIT: CSEM

New homes are increasingly being outfitted with solar panels, heat pumps, rechargeable batteries and other means of producing and storing heat, electricity and gas, all of which interconnect with the electrical grid. At the level of an entire neighborhood, these decentralized, intermittent energy sources form a complex network, which can also include energy-consuming installations such as electric vehicle charging stations.

Managing these multi-energy systems and optimizing energy costs raises a number of questions. Should energy be consumed when it is produced, sold to the grid, or stored for later use? And how should various energy sources be distributed if there are groups of consumers generating their own energy?

Orchestrating the production and consumption of energy

CSEM has developed smart, predictive software capable of providing real-time answers to these questions. Designed for non-specialists, it makes use of weather forecasts, data from local infrastructure, residents' consumption habits and market energy costs. As its name indicates, Maestro is like an orchestra conductor that automatically manages resources and keeps costs down. An online simulator, based on a building with eight family apartments, is available here.

Determining the best time to consume energy

"All of Maestro's decisions are based on cost management," says Tomasz Gorecki, one of CSEM's engineers behind the system. "When a solar panel is in use, for example, the software can tell you whether it's more advantageous to charge your electric vehicle, store the energy, or sell it to the grid. The system works for individual homes, but it could also prove to be very useful for a self-sufficient community, sharing various renewable energy sources across several homes," he adds. The system has already been successfully installed in two private homes and in an apartment building in collaboration with Soleco. Negotiations are underway to fit out an entire neighborhood currently under construction in Zurich. Maestro was also presented at the IFAC World Congress in Berlin.

How Maestro works

The software is easy to use and can be quickly adapted to individual neighborhoods. To start with, parameters such as solar panel size, buildings' surface area, battery storage capacity and user preferences and priorities are fed into a planning tool.

Production data from energy installations, provided by sensors, are then sent to the cloud, where Maestro automatically compares possible consumption decisions and identifies the most cost-effective one. Instructions are sent back to the computer, which carries them out on site.

Maestro can incorporate boilers, heat pumps and electric vehicle charging stations, as well as electric batteries, renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines, power-to-gas facilities, thermal storage tanks, and more.

To learn more and test the online simulator, go to: https://www.csem.ch/page.aspx?pid=126438

Specific questions

What sets Maestro apart from other energy management systems?

Other systems on the market are designed only for individual homes and often employ a very simple mechanism of increasing power consumption whenever solar energy is produced. Maestro, on the other hand, can be used just as well for an entire neighborhood, where the network is more complex. It can also accommodate other energy-consuming installations such as electric vehicle charging stations and home heating and cooling systems. What's more, Maestro looks at weather forecasts for the coming days, which means that it can factor future needs into its consumption decisions. More broadly, the system is designed to keep costs down.

Could this focus on cost actually lead to increased energy consumption?

No, that shouldn't happen. Whenever surplus energy is produced, for example, the system will sell it to the grid if storing it for later use wouldn't be possible or cost-efficient. In making this decision, the system takes into account the losses that would be incurred by storing the energy in batteries. It's all about determining the best time and most rational way to use the energy.

What sort of cost savings are possible?

The cost savings will vary from home to home and user to user. A preliminary study on the first house running Maestro revealed an approximately 20% reduction in heating costs alone.

 

A chemist from RUDN developed a green catalyst for pharmaceutical and industrial chemistry

RUDN UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: MANY PRODUCTION FACILITIES (E.G. PLASTIC MANUFACTURERS, PHARMA COMPANIES, AND OTHERS) USE NANOCATALYSTS THAT CONTAIN PALLADIUM--AN EXPENSIVE COMPONENT THAT IS NOT SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED. A CHEMIST FROM RUDN UNIVERSITY FOUND A WAY... view more 

CREDIT: RUDN UNIVERSITY

Many production facilities (e.g. plastic manufacturers, pharma companies, and others) use nanocatalysts that contain palladium--an expensive component that is not sustainably produced. A chemist from RUDN University found a way to reduce palladium consumption and to make its manufacture more eco-friendly. He developed a catalyst based on a substance that comes from plant waste. Using his invention, manufacturers could cut palladium consumption in half. Moreover, new catalysts can be reused multiple times without any decrease in efficiency. The results of the study were published in the journal Molecular Catalysis.

Cross-coupling is a type of reaction that involves combining carbon atoms from different organic molecules. Cross-coupling reactions are most widely spread ones in industrial chemistry. They are used to synthesize plastics, medicinal drugs, and other compounds and account for 17% of all reactions in medical chemistry only. The main component of cross-coupling is palladium nanoparticles. Palladium is one of the rarest elements on Earth, which makes it a very expensive catalyst. Moreover, it is mainly produced at mining facilities that pose a considerable threat to the environment. A chemist from RUDN University suggested solving all these issues with one new approach.

The consumption of palladium in cross-coupling reactions increases because the particles of palladium-containing catalysts tend to bind together. There are two ways to stop this. One could modify the chemical properties of the particles to weaken the reaction between their surfaces when they come in contact. Alternatively, the metal could be held in place physically with a framework or a grid. The chemist from RUDN University chose the second method and locked metal particles in their respective places using a multilayer shell with a magnetic core.

The core of the new nanocatalyst consists of iron oxide with high magnetic properties. The coating is made of a catechol-based polymer. Catechol is a substance that is found in plant cell walls and is produced from plant waste. Both these layers are ancillary and have no catalytic activity. The catalytic properties of the compound come from palladium nanoparticles that are incorporated into the second layer. The polymer fixes the particles in place and prevents them from binding together.

The new catalyst structure requires twice as little palladium as the old one: 1.5% of the total nanoparticle weight as opposed to 3-6%. Moreover, after a couple of production cycles, the core of the nanocomposite material can be cleaned up and reused. This method is not only good for the environment but also economically feasible, as it will make the production of medicinal drugs, plastics, and other products cheaper.

"Today chemists are especially interested in green catalysts. Our nanocatalysts contain a product of plant waste recycling and at the same time efficiently work in cross-coupling reactions. Therefore, not only are they able to reduce palladium consumption and make the production process cheaper, but also are beneficial for the environment. Moreover, we managed to showcase the universal nature of polymers based on plant catechols. The same approach can be used when working with other metals including platinum, silver, or gold, or with catalysts of other organic reactions," said Rafael Luque, PhD, Head of the Molecular Design and Synthesis of Innovative Compounds for Medicine Science Center at RUDN University.

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Autophagy: the beginning of the end

Scientists reveal key steps in the formation of the recycling centers of the cell

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

Research News

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IMAGE: AN ATG9 VESICLE SERVES AS A PLATFORM FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF THE AUTOPHAGIC MACHINERY. IT THEREBY FORMS A SEED FOR THE FORMATION OF AN AUTOPHAGOSOME AROUND THE CARGO BY ACCEPTING... view more 

CREDIT: © VERENA BAUMANN

Autophagosomes first form as cup-shaped membranes in the cell, which then grow to engulf the cellular material designated for destruction. The formation of these membranes is catalyzed by a complex machinery of proteins. "We have a very good knowledge of the factors involved in autophagosomes formation", explains group leader Sascha Martens, "but how they come together to initiate the formation of these membranes has so far been enigmatic".

One of the factors is Atg9, a protein whose importance in the process was known, but whose role was not clear. Atg9 is found in small intracellular vesi-cles. Researchers Justyna Sawa-Makarska, Verena Baumann and Nicolas Coudevylle from the Martens lab now show that they form a platform on which the autophagy machinery can assemble to build the autophagosome. "Atg9 vesicles are abundant in the cell, which means they can be rapidly recruited when autophagosomes are needed", explains group leader Sascha Martens.

Cells encapsulate cargo in vesicles, so that they can be correctly transported and degraded in a chemical environment that is different to the one normally found in cells. Autophagosomes therefore consist of a double membrane made of phospholipids. This greasy envelope creates a waterproof package that separates material from the aqueous surroundings of the cell and marks it for degradation. However, Atg9 vesicles do not supply the bulk of the lipids to the growing autophagosome.

To understand a complex machinery like the cell, it often helps to take it apart and rebuild it. The biogenesis of autophagosome involves numerous proteins. By isolating and characterizing 21 of these components, the scientists have been able to rebuild parts of the autophagy machinery in the 'test tube' - an ar-duous process that took Sascha Martens and his team almost ten years. "With this approach we could reconstitute the early steps of autophagosome biogen-esis in a controlled manner", he says. With the elaborate toolkit the Martens lab has developed, the scientists now aim to unravel the next steps in the biogene-sis of the autophagosome. The research project was a collaboration of the Martens lab with Gerhard Hummer and Soeren von Bülow from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt and Martin Graef from the Max Planck In-stitute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne.

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Publication in "Science":

Justyna Sawa-Makarska, Verena Baumann, Nicolas Coudevylle, Sören von Bu?low, Veronika Nogellova, Christine Abert, Martina Schuschnig, Martin Graef, Gerhard Hummer und Sascha Martens: Reconstitution of autophagosome nucleation defines Atg9 vesicles as seeds for membrane formation. Science 2020

DOI:10.1126/science.aaz7714

 

Images of captive torment in art

Japanese war camps highlight 'lost' part of history

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: ANON., FIGURES KISSING, 1942-45, WOOD, APPROXIMATE HEIGHT = 40?CM. COURTESY OF BARMERA VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF BARMERA VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Between the arrival of pearl divers and war brides - long after Japanese performers toured Australia 150 years ago - an untold chapter of World War Two history has emerged in a new study of wartime art made by almost 5000 prisoners of war in Australia and New Zealand.

Focusing on internment camps set up across Australia and NZ, Canterbury University and Flinders University art historians Richard Bullen and Tets Kimura examine some exquisite Japanese artworks produced during the extended period of war incarceration.

It gives a fascinating insight into the lives of these ethnic and part-Japanese PoWs and civilians, at a time of enforced detention at remote locations such as Cowra and Hay (NSW), Tatura in Victoria, Loveday and Woolenook camp (SA) and Featherston, Pahiatua and Somes Island in New Zealand.

"Australasian Japanese internment camps remain largely unheard of, and the art made by the internees has received no attention until the current research," they say in the new paper. "Although there were some very crudely made items made by the Japanese held in Australasia, many of the works are of surprising quality and suggest a level of artistic confidence and training."

Including the Cowra breakout and a standoff at the Featherston facility, the record of camp life focuses more on a narrative of violence, misunderstanding, racism, than the social history and isolating and traumatic experience of internment.

In the largely all-male camp environment, many of the works depict alluring female figures, with the cultural symbols of kimono, geisha and umbrella depicted in various ways.The paper outlines the stories of several such artworks, including the attached:

Editors - the images can be downloaded from the article, except Figure 3 which is privately owned and requires permission.

Read the article, Japanese Art in Australasia During the Second World War, by Richard Bullen and Tets Kimura, in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 2020, vol 20, 1, 107-124 DOI: 10.1080/14434318.2020.1764232.

For more details on personal stories of WWII detainees, see a comprehensive camp history in Australia by Flinders University Professor Peter Monteath, Captured Lives: Australia's Wartime Internment Camps (Canberra: NLA Publishing, 2018).