Intervention of an Upgraded Ventilation System and Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality at Birmingham New Street Railway Station

High NO2 concentrations (long term average of 383 µg/m3 in 2016/2017) recorded at Birmingham New Street railway station have resulted in the upgrade of the bi-directional fan system to aid wind dispersion within the enclosed platform environment. This paper attempts to examine how successful this intervention has been in improving air quality for both passengers and workers within the station. New air pollution data in 2020 has enabled comparisons to the 2016/2017 monitoring campaign revealing a 23–42% decrease in measured NO2 concentrations. The new levels of NO2 are below the Occupational Health standards but still well above the EU Public Health Standards. This reduction, together with a substantial decrease (up to 81%) in measured Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations, can most likely be attributed to the new fan system effectiveness. Carbon Monoxide levels were well below Occupational and Public Health Standards at all times. The COVID-19 pandemic “initial lockdown” period has also allowed an insight into the resultant air quality at lower rail-traffic intensities, which produced a further reduction in air pollutants, to roughly half the pre-lockdown concentrations. This study shows the scope of improvement that can be achieved through an engineering solution implemented to improve the ventilation system of an enclosed railway station. Further reduction in air pollution would require additional approaches, such as the removal of diesel engine exhaust emissions via the adoption of electric or diesel-electric hybrid powered services.

EPIDEMICS IN KYIV COVERED IN THE NEWSPAPER PERIODICALS OF THE CITY OF THE LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

The article examines the coverage of the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the city in the late 19th – early 20th centuries in the Kyiv newspapers “Kievlyanin”, “Kievskie Vesti”, “Kievskaya Mysl”, “Yuzhnaya Kopeyka”. The processing of newspaper materials made it possible to identify problematic areas of work of the city authorities in the sanitary and communal spheres, namely inadequate control over observance of health standards in urban markets, failure to solve the problem of natural dumps and homeless people, illegal alcohol sales, lack of timely repair of roads, construction of water supply and sewerage. These factors were the main causes of epidemics of typhus, measles, tuberculosis, smallpox, cholera. Analysis of statistics on the pages of periodicals allows tracing the number of people affected by epidemics, identifying typical diseases for each district of the city, caused by their geographical location, population, location of facilities such as prisons, bazaars, cemeteries, hospitals.

A Human in Modern Medicine: From the Restoration of Health to Improve

The article analyzes the dynamics of the development of medical models of treatment of deviations from the health norm, discusses the issue of changing ideas about the human health in medicine. It is shown that as a result of changes in the conceptual understanding of health and the process of its restoration, the principle of achieving a commercially profitable, fast and controlled result is introduced into modern medicine, as a result of that the process of medical treatment is standardized and regulated. But the preservation of object optics of views in the medical industry, as shown in the article, becomes ineffective, moreover, risky in a situation of moving boundaries of the human health norm. To overcome the existing risks, new institutes and practices of ethical examination of health standards are being introduced into medicine. It is shown that the accepted deliberative practices of ethical expertise only introduce a procedure for taking into account the patient’s position regarding the boundaries of their health standards and the limits of medical intervention. At the same time, the patient’s position is considered as something ready, initially given, in other words, the classic “human project” continues to be defended in medicine.

Direct Health Education by Christian Doctors: Sharing Experiences during Community Service in Local Church Communities in Jakarta, Indonesia

Health education is important because of the need to promote health among members of the community, to maintain the health status and, if possible, to prevent people to get sick. Specific communities such as church members have unique characteristics that can facilitate health education so that it can be more easily accepted and implemented. The existence of Christian scholars among those specific communities can help the church to promote daily healthy living activities and maintain health standards, especially in the era of the Covid pandemic. This article aims to share our experience of doing multi-form community service in a specific community, a local church located in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, Indonesia.

New Normal Set-up on Safety and Health Standards in Government Construction Projects: A case of Covid-19

The New Normal Set-up on Safety and Health Standards in Government Construction Projects during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic is a new guideline or protocol on construction sites in preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease within the construction workers in Central Luzon before, during, and after construction activities. This study aims to verify the effectivity of the New Normal Set-up on safety and health protocol in preventing the spread of the virus during a pandemic crisis. This paper will provide an assessment, evaluation, and recommendations on the current mandated rules of government agencies within Central Luzon in terms of safety and health guidelines in the implementation of construction projects during this Covid-19 public health crisis.

Analyzing Millennial Generation Awareness on Nationalism During Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: In the current era of globalization, the Indonesian government's problem today is the weakening of nationalism and patriotism among the millennial generation. The large number of foreign cultures that have entered Indonesia has caused a sense of nationalism and patriotism. In addition, Indonesia is also facing the problem of spreading the Covid-19 virus. During the pandemic, various policies set by the government received protests from some circles because they felt their freedom was restricted. Therefore, the awareness of millennial generation nationalism is needed, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic like today. This research aims to make millennials aware of nationalism sense, which mainly to prevent the spread of Covid-19. This research is used to answer the questions of what the problems that arise due to the waning of the spirit of nationalism during the pandemic are? and what efforts should be made to maintain the spirit of nationalism? Methods: This research is a qualitative study using the literature review method. The articles used are research published in 2019 to 2021 in Google Scholar, with keywords that match the topic of millennial generation nationalism in the Covid-19 pandemic. Results and Discussion: The results of the study found that the spirit of Indonesian nationalism during the Covid-19 pandemic was decreasing. The decline in the sense of nationalism is due to several government policies that impact the psychology of society and the Indonesian economy. As a result, society, particularly the millennial generation, must play a role in breaking the chain of the Covid-19 virus's propagation by following the government's health standards. Conclusion: The government and society need to work together to understand nationalism in the millennial generation, especially in dealing with problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on this, various efforts need to be made to foster the spirit of nationalism and overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. So that later, it can produce a generation that upholds the value of nationalism in everyday life.

Effect of Breeding Techniques and Prolonged Post Dry Aging Maturation Process on Biomolecule Levels in Raw Buffalo Meat

Recently, several concerns have been expressed on red meat quality and consumption. The aims of this study were to evaluate the influence of different breeding techniques and a prolonged post dry aging (PDA) maturation process on biomolecules level in raw buffalo meat. In the first experiment, two groups of animals were maintained with different space availability (15 vs. 10 m2/animal) for 90 days and biomolecules content was evaluated. In experiment 2, two diets (with or without ryegrass green forage) were used to assess the concentration of these biomolecules. Finally, in experiment 3, the meat of the animals that showed the highest content of biomolecules was chosen to assess the influence of the PDA maturation process. Buffaloes reared at 15 m2 showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher content of the considered biomolecules compared with their counterparts. Similarly, buffaloes fed green forage showed higher content of biomolecules (p < 0.05) compared with the control group. The meat of the animals bred at 15 m2 and fed green forage showed a significant (p < 0.01) increase of biomolecules content during the PDA maturation process up to 60 days without influence microbiological profile in terms of total aerobic bacterial counts, yeasts, and molds. In conclusion, breeding techniques and PDA maturation system could enhance biomolecules levels in terms of quality, without affect health standards.

An Improved PageRank Algorithm Based on Text Similarity Approach for Critical Standards Identification in Complex Standard Citation Networks

A standard system, which is a powerful tool in maintaining the normal operations and development of a specific industry, is intrinsically a complex network composed of numerous standards which coordinate and interact with each other. In a networked standard system, the identification of critical standards is of great significance when drafting and revising standards. However, a majority of the existing literature has focused on the citation relationships between standards while ignoring the intrinsic interdependent relationships between the contents of standards. To overcome this limitation, we utilize the text similarity approach (TSA) to quantify the relationship intensity between each pair of standards, in order to generate a directed weighted network. The critical contribution of this study is that the similarity computed by the TSA is incorporated into the traditional PageRank algorithm for the identification of critical standards. The improved algorithm comprehensively considers the quantity and importance of neighboring standards and the citation intensity, as quantified by TSA. The algorithm is finally validated using the Chinese environmental health standards through comparison with the traditional PageRank algorithm and different classic measurements.

A clinical audit into the adherence of foot health management standards of rheumatoid arthritis compared to the foot health management standards of diabetes mellitus in North-East London

Objectives Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has an affinity to smaller joints, thus its effect on the foot/ankle is widely known. Despite this, there is lack of adherence to foot management standards by podiatrists. This research aimed to audit the adherence of these standards and compare them to well-established management standard adherence in the diabetic foot. Methods In this clinical audit, data was obtained via six National Health Service (NHS) podiatry departments in North-East London on service provision, management, treatment and professional development on both RA and diabetic foot health via foot management clinical audit tools. Descriptive analyses were conducted analysed to identify patterns and trends, with set standard compliance conditions calculated on Net Promotor Score ® (NPS) metric to allow for multi-comparison. Results All areas of RA foot health management were found to have poor compliance when compared to diabetes foot health management. When using NPS, no trust audited meet the majority of foot health standards in RA; with only two having a positive score (meeting the minimum standards) compared to all trusts posting a positive NPS on diabetes foot health standards. Conclusions Our results indicate that poor compliance into RA foot health standards is prevalent across the audited region and may be resulting in worsening foot outcomes despite a paradigm shift in other areas of RA management. Enhanced training and knowledge is required for better adherence to the standards set out and improve a foot health management in RA.