Potential Toxicity of Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Components

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Environmental Engineering - Master of Science, 2024In 2023, photovoltaic (PV) solar modules provided over 170 GW of green energy to the U.S. Currently, there is no mandatory recycling of PV waste in the U.S. and most PV modules are landfilled rather than recycled. Previous work on PV toxicity focused on metal and considered the full module. To plan for large volumes of PV waste that require management, we evaluated the potential ecotoxicity of various module components. The project was separated into two tasks: 1) acute toxicity of solar components under batch leaching conditions and 2) the design of a column landfill study. We tested three crystalline silicon modules by separating them into three components of waste: the powdered cell and glass area, encapsulation and back sheet polymers, and junction box and cables. Bioassays classified the aquatic acute ecotoxicity of each component with the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) to crustacea, Daphnia magna, in which leachates were considered acutely toxic at concentrations of less than 10%.Two of the tested module\u2019s powder and encapsulation and back sheet leachates showed little hazard to the environment with either no impact on daphnids or projected EC50s over 120%. The third module did have significant ecotoxicity with EC50s less than 5%. Each module\u2019s junction box and cable leachates had observable effects on daphnids, but only one had a significant EC50 of less than 10%. The metal and microplastic content of each leachate was evaluated to characterize potential sources of toxicity. Of the 22 elements tested, few were of concern. Silver and aluminum leached at high concentrations exceeding literature EC50 values, so toxicity was primarily contributed to these metals. Spectroscopy analysis only showed a presence of plastics in junction box and cable leachates, with peaks characteristic of polypropylene and polyethylene. Therefore, only metals were of potential concern for powder, encapsulation, and back sheet components, while the junction box and cables may release small metal concentrations and some plastics. Overall, two modules showed little to no risk to the aquatic environment, but the significant toxicity of the third emphasized the need for careful classification and disposal of all module materials. This work verified previous claims that semiconductor metals were of primary concern in PV waste, allowing for proper classification of disposal needs. The ecotoxicity of select leachates showed the increasing need for PV recycling. Future work should expand on microplastic degradation in long-term studies for greater understanding of potential release.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references

Fluid forces on and flow configurations around a circular cylinder near a plane boundary

The flow configurations around and the forces acting on a circular cylinder with its axis parallel to a nearby plane boundary and subjected to a uniform flow were investigated. The flow conditions, which were perpendicular to the cylinder axis and parallel to the plane boundary were investigated experimentally and theoretically. Flow visualization was achieved through the use of tiny air bubbles entrapted in the fluid to locate the stagnation point and point of separation of flow. Also, the configuration of the cylinder wake was observed. A force measuring device employing the use of straingauges was used to record the change in lift and drag as the cylinder neared the plane boundary. The results showed that the drag and lift increased, and that the cylinder wake approximated that of an aerofoil configuration as the cylinder neared the plane boundary. In addition, as the cylinder approached the plane boundary, the top separation point of the cylinder boundary layer moved towards the front of the cylinder, the bottom separation point moved towards the rear of the cylinder, and the front stagnation point moved downward. The boundary layer along the plane boundary was observed to separate at a position downstream of the test cylinder. This separation point position was determined to be a function of the distance between the cylinder and the plane boundary for a specific Reynolds number

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and resistancy among university students in France

Clinical Investigation Center, CHU Rouen, Normandie University, Rouen, France, CHU Rouen, Normandie University, Rouen, France, Rouen University Hospital, Normandie University, Rouen, FranceIntroduction. Young adults, specifically college students, are at risk of being infected with COVID-19 and transmitting the infection to others owing to their sense of invulnerability and can be a source of transmission to at-risk populations and could be the public acceptance of a new vaccine for COVID-19 developed within a short period remains uncertain despite the forthcoming availability. The objectives were to explore, among university students, the level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and resistancy and to determine the motivations and barriers, and the reasons that may change student vaccination decision making. Material and methods. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among students of a French university in January 2021 with questions about the intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the motivations and the barriers: ”Do you intend to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (when it is possible for you to do so)?” with the choice answers of: “Yes, absolutely”; “Yes, probably”; “No, probably not”; “No, certainly not” and “I don’t know”. Students reported the motivations or the reasons of hesitations with several possible answers. Results. A total of 3089 students were included, with a mean of age of 20.3 (SD=1.9). A total of 3089 students were included, with a mean of age of 20.3 (SD=1.9), and 71.4% were female. The self-estimated knowledge of conventional vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines was 5.9/10 (2.3) and 4.9/10 (2.3), respectively. Confidence in the efficacy and safety of conventional vaccines (excluding COVID-19 vaccines) was 8.0/10 (2.3) and 7.7/10 (2.3), respectively. To the question on the intention to vaccinate against the COVID-19, 58.0% of students reported that they would choose to have a vaccination, 17.0% reported that they would not and 25.0% were not sure. The main motivation for vaccine acceptance were “I don't want to transmit COVID-19 to others”, the main barrier for vaccine resistance or hesitancy were “I prefer to wait until I have more experience with these new vaccines”. Age, female gender, being in first three years of study, studied sciences courses and neither sciences nor healthcare courses were significantly associated with a higher risk of vaccine hesitancy or resistancy. Self-estimated knowledge of conventional vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines, and confidence in efficiency and safety of conventional vaccination were associated with a lower risk of vaccine hesitancy or resistancy. Conclusions. Our study shows that, in January 2021, before students have the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in France, more than half of the students were vaccine acceptance, a quarter were hesitant, and one in five students were resistant. It is relevant to disseminate evidence-based interventions to promote COVID-19 vaccine acceptability for college students, especially for the students in neither sciences nor healthcare, as college students will soon be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Preventive university medicine, campus-based student organizations, and college students could be consider designing educational programs and messaging that promotes behavioral confidence among college students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine

Severe pain management in the emergency department: patient pathway as a new factor associated with IV morphine prescription

BackgroundAcross the world, 25–29% of the population suffer from pain. Pain is the most frequent reason for an emergency department (ED) visit. This symptom is involved in approximately 70% of all ED visits. The effective management of acute pain with adequate analgesia remains a challenge, especially for severe pain. Intravenous (IV) morphine protocols are currently indicated. These protocols are based on patient-reported scores, most often after an immediate evaluation of pain intensity at triage. However, they are not systematically prescribed. This aspect could be explained by the fact that physicians individualize opioid pain management for each patient and each care pathway to determine the best benefit–risk balance. Few data are available regarding bedside organizational factors involved in this phenomenon.ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the organizational factors associated with no IV morphine prescription in a standardized context of opioid management in a tertiary-care ED.MethodsA 3-month prospective study with a case–control design was conducted in a French university hospital ED. This study focused on factors associated with protocol avoidance despite a visual analog scale (VAS) ≥60 or a numeric rating scale (NRS) ≥6 at triage. Pain components, physician characteristics, patient epidemiologic characteristics, and care pathways were considered. Qualitative variables (percentages) were compared using Fisher’s exact test or the chi-squared tests. Student’s t-test was used to compare continuous variables. The results were expressed as means with their standard deviation (SD). Factors associated with morphine avoidance were identified by logistic regression.ResultsA total of 204 patients were included in this study. A total of 46 cases (IV morphine) and 158 controls (IV morphine avoidance) were compared (3:1 ratio). Pain patterns and patient’s epidemiologic characteristics were not associated with an IV morphine prescription. Regarding NRS intervals, the results suggest a practice disconnected from the patient’s initial self-report. IV morphine avoidance was significantly associated with care pathways. A significant difference between the IV morphine group and the IV morphine avoidance group was observed for “self-referral” [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 5.11, 95% CIs: 2.32–12.18, p < 0.0001] and patients’ trajectories (Fisher’s exact test; p < 0.0001), suggesting IV morphine avoidance in ambulatory pathways. In addition, “junior physician grade” was associated with IV morphine avoidance (aOR: 2.35, 95% CIs: 1.09–5.25, p = 0.03), but physician gender was not.ConclusionThis bedside case–control study highlights that IV morphine avoidance in the ED could be associated with ambulatory pathways. It confirms the decreased choice of “NRS-only” IV morphine protocols for all patients, including non-trauma patterns. Modern pain education should propose new tools for pain evaluation that integrate the heterogeneity of ED pathways

Activitatea fizică la studenți: un studiu epidemiologic transversal în Republica Moldova și Franța

Université d’État de Médecine et de Pharmacie „Nicolae Testemițanu”, République de Moldavie, Unisversité de Rouen, FranceIntroduction. Physical activity is the key component of a student's healthy lifestyle, which is a fundamental factor contributing to academic success. The importance of physical activities during the study period is determined particularly by the student's working regime, which is often characterized by sedentary lifestyle, reduced mobility and constant working position. Material and methods. A cross-sectional epidemiological study (2017-2018) was carried out. The study sample consisted of 783 students, including 430 students from the Republic of Moldova and 353 students from France. The data collection was performed by using a questionnaire that was completed by each study participant online, in electronic form. Results. The mean body mass index (kg/m2) of students from Chisinau was 21.5±0.10 (ranging between 16.16 and 34.72) and of students from Rouen - 22.65±0.22 (15.75-43.76) (p<0.001). 43.9% students from Chisinau and 56.4% students from Rouen practice sport (p<0.001). Both men (98.5%) and women (98.4%) from Chisinau practice same-intensity physical activities, until sweating. A slightly more different situation was reported in students from Rouen, where only 88.8% of women exercise until sweating, compared to men – 93.1%. Conclusions. The results of the research showed a slightly significant difference among students from both countries, as well as in their gender distribution.Introducere. Activitatea fizică reprezintă una din componentele de bază ale unui stil de viață sănătos al unui student – un factor primordial, care contribuie la succesul academic. Importanța activităților fizice în perioada studiilor este determinată, în special, de faptul că regimul de lucru al studentului se caracterizează adesea prin sedentarism, mobilitate redusă sau poziţie de lucru invariabilă. Material și metode. A fost proiectat un studiu epidemiologic transversal (2017-2018), eșantionul de studiu fiind constituit din 783 studenți, dintre care 430 de respondenți din Republica Moldova și 353 - din Franța. Datele au fost colectate în baza unui formular cu întrebări, care a fost completat de către fiecare participant la studiu, în format electronic, în regim online. Rezultate. Valoarea medie a indicelui masei corporale (kg/m2) pentru studenții din Chișinău a constituit 21,5±0,10 (limitele cuprinse între 16,16 și 34,72), iar pentru studenții din Rouen - 22,65±0,22 (15,75-43,76) (p<0,001). Astfel, practică sportul: 43,9% studenți din Chișinău și 56,4% studenți din Rouen (p<0,001). Atât bărbații (98,5%), cât și femeile (98,4%) din Chișinău practică activitățile fizice cu aceeași intensitate, până la transpirație. O situație puțin mai deosebită atestându-se la studenții din Rouen, unde femeile fac exerciții fizice până la transpirație doar în 88,8% cazuri, în comparație cu bărbații – 93,1%. Concluzii. Rezultatele cercetării au arătat că diferențele au fost puțin semnificative atât după criteriul de gen, cât și la nivel de țări

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and addictions (substance and behavioral): Prevalence and characteristics in a multicenter study in France

Aim The aim of this study is to determine the possible links between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the presence of concomitant addictions with or without substance use in a French student population. Measures A battery of questionnaire measuring socioeconomic characteristics, university curriculum, ADHD (Wender Utah Rating Scale and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale), substance consumptions (alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis), and behavioral addictions [(eating disorders (SCOFF)], Internet addiction (Internet Addiction Test), food addiction (Yale Food Addiction Scale), compulsive buying (Echeburua’s), and problem gambling (The Canadian Problem Gambling Index)] and measures of physical activity (Godin’s Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire) was filled up by university students in Rouen and Nanterre in France. Results A total of 1,517 students were included (472 from Paris Nanterre and 1,042 from Rouen). The mean age was 20.6 years (SD = 3.6) and the sex ratio male to female was 0.46. The prevalence of ADHD among the students (current ADHD with a history of ADHD in childhood) was 5.6%. A quarter (25.7%) of students had already repeated their university curriculum, compared to 42.2% among the students with ADHD. Students with possible ADHD had repeated classes more often and believed to have a lower academic level than the students without ADHD. Significant differences were found as students with ADHD were less likely to succeed in their studies (repeated classes more often) than non-ADHD students, and considered their academic level to be lower. They also had significantly higher scores on substance (alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco) as well as behavioral addictions (gambling, compulsive buying disorder, eating disorders, and Internet addiction). Conclusion It seems essential to determine students’ problems and propose interventions adapted to students’ needs, in order to reduce the negative impact on their future academic and global successes

Identification and Characterization of Human Observational Studies in Nutritional Epidemiology on Gut Microbiomics for Joint Data Analysis

In any research field, data access and data integration are major challenges that even large, well-established consortia face. Although data sharing initiatives are increasing, joint data analyses on nutrition and microbiomics in health and disease are still scarce. We aimed to identify observational studies with data on nutrition and gut microbiome composition from the Intestinal Microbiomics (INTIMIC) Knowledge Platform following the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles. An adapted template from the European Nutritional Phenotype Assessment and Data Sharing Initiative (ENPADASI) consortium was used to collect microbiome-specific information and other related factors. In total, 23 studies (17 longitudinal and 6 cross-sectional) were identified from Italy (7), Germany (6), Netherlands (3), Spain (2), Belgium (1), and France (1) or multiple countries (3). Of these, 21 studies collected information on both dietary intake (24 h dietary recall, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), or Food Records) and gut microbiome. All studies collected stool samples. The most often used sequencing platform was Illumina MiSeq, and the preferred hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were V3-V4 or V4. The combination of datasets will allow for sufficiently powered investigations to increase the knowledge and understanding of the relationship between food and gut microbiome in health and disease

Chronic pain evaluation in breast cancer patients using the Self-Report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS): a single center cross-sectional retrospective study

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in India, and the number of survivors has increased over the last few years. Pain is one of the most common symptoms during cancer treatment due to either the disease itself or adverse effects of treatment. The available data suggests that breast cancer patients have a high prevalence of neuropathic pain. Patients and methods: A cross sectional observational study was done at the Department of Radiation Oncology, between November 2021 to June 2022. The patients were admitted and screened for participation, non-metastatic post operative breast cancer on regular follow up for 2 years after their last chemotherapy or radiotherapy and not having any chronic neuropathy disease and the Self-Report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) pain scale was used to assess the neuropathy pain status of patients. Patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatment of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy were collected and the comparison of the pain score between the patients was analysed. Results: Total of 149 patients were included in the study. S-LANSS score was calculated in the study population and more than 61% of participants reported a score equal or greater than 12, suggesting a predominant neuropathic pain component. Autonomic dysfunction, thermal pain, and allodynia were more prevalent in patients who underwent mastectomies compared to breast-conserving surgery. Whereas the dysesthesia and autonomic dysfunction score was higher in only the anthracycline group. Conclusions: The most important index for quality of life in cancer patients is the presence of persistent chronic pain and it is important to classify it accordingly in order to provide the best management. Using the S-LANSS score, the pattern of neuropathic pain can be determined early which leads to early intervention