Microbiological, Health and Comfort Aspects of Indoor Air Quality in a Romanian Historical Wooden Church

Comprehensive analysis of classroom microclimate in context to health-related national and international indoor air quality standards

Indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor air pollution are critical issues impacting urban environments, significantly affecting the quality of life. Nowadays, poor IAQ is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, allergic reactions, and cognitive impairments, particularly in settings like classrooms. Thus, this study investigates the impact of indoor environmental quality on student health in a university classroom over a year, using various sensors to measure 19 environmental parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, CO2, CO, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), and other pollutants. Thus, the aim of the study is to analyze the implications of the indoor microclimate for the health of individuals working in the classroom, as well as its implications for educational outcomes. The data revealed frequent exceedances of international standards for formaldehyde (HCHO), VOC, PM2.5, NO, and NO2. HCHO and VOCs levels, often originating from building materials and classroom activities, were notably high. PM2.5 levels exceeded both annual and daily standards, while NO and NO2 levels, possibly influenced by inadequate ventilation, also surpassed recommended limits. Even though there were numerous exceedances of current international standards, the indoor microclimate quality index (IMQI) score indicated a generally good indoor environment, remaining mostly between 0 and 50 for this indicator. Additionally, analyses indicate a high probability that some indicators will exceed the current standards, and their values are expected to trend upwards in the future. The study highlighted the need for better ventilation and pollutant control in classrooms to ensure a healthy learning environment. Frequent exceedances of pollutant standards can suggest a significant impact on student health and academic performance. Thus, the present study underscored the importance of continuous monitoring and proactive measures to maintain optimal indoor air quality.

Once upon a Time, There Was a Piece of Wood: Present Knowledge and Future Perspectives in Fungal Deterioration of Wooden Cultural Heritage in Terrestrial Ecosystems and Diagnostic Tools

Wooden Cultural Heritage (WCH) represents a significant portion of the world's historical and artistic heritage, consisting of immovable and movable artefacts. Despite the expertise developed since ancient times to enhance its durability, wooden artefacts are inevitably prone to degradation. Fungi play a pivotal role in the deterioration of WCH in terrestrial ecosystems, accelerating its decay and leading to alterations in color and strength. Reviewing the literature of the last 25 years, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of fungal diversity affecting WCH, the biochemical processes involved in wood decay, and the diagnostic tools available for fungal identification and damage evaluation. Climatic conditions influence the occurrence of fungal species in threatened WCH, characterized by a prevalence of wood-rot fungi (e.g., Serpula lacrymans, Coniophora puteana) in architectural heritage in temperate and continental climates and Ascomycota in indoor and harsh environments. More efforts are needed to address the knowledge fragmentation concerning biodiversity, the biology of the fungi involved, and succession in the degradative process, which is frequently centered solely on the main actors. Multidisciplinary collaboration among engineers, restorers, and life sciences scientists is vital for tackling the challenges posed by climate change with increased awareness. Traditional microbiology and culture collections are fundamental in laying solid foundations for a more comprehensive interpretation of big data.

Exploring airborne fungal contaminations and air quality pollution in nine ancient stone temples, Surin, Thailand

This study provided crucial insights into the concentrations of airborne fungi, environmental parameters, and atmospheric pollution in Thailand's ancient stone temples. Airborne fungi were identified based on morphological characteristics. Airborne fungi, meteorological parameters, and atmospheric pollutants concurrently assessed during each sampling event, evaluating indoor/outdoor ratio. Prevalent genera included Penicillium (14.36%), Aspergillus (10.94%), Cladosporium (10.74%), Rhizopus (6.31%), and Fusarium (5.90%), with an average fungi concentration of 4884.46 ± 724.79 CFU/m3. Eighteen fungal species out of the 64 airborne fungi identified were well-known serious pathogenic agents, contributing not only to structural deterioration but also to human health. Significant variations were observed between indoor and outdoor environments and across diverse landscapes, particularly for PM10 (ranging from 43.47 to 121.31 µg/m3) and PM2.5 (ranging from 29.59 to 89.60 µg/m3), with intensive incense burning identified as a prominent source of indoor atmospheric pollution. Historical temples, particularly situated in urban areas, were identified as significant reservoirs of airborne fungi. Correlations between meteorological parameters and pollutants revealed strong associations. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis elucidated distinct patterns in airborne fungal concentrations and contaminations. This study analyzed environmental factors, pollutants, airborne fungi, and geographical variations from July 2020 to March 2021. Understanding prevalent genera, airborne fungi concentrations, pathogenic species, biodeterioration, and environmental dynamics provided strategies for improving indoor air quality and mitigating airborne fungal contamination in archaeological buildings worldwide.

Influence of Natural Aging on the Moisture Sorption Behaviour of Wooden Structural Components

A greater understanding of moisture sorption behaviour of aged wooden structural components, which has a close relationship with dimensional stability, is required to effectively evaluate and preserve historical artefacts. This study focused on the effects of aging on Baotou beam samples from a Chinese historical wooden building. An analysis of the sorption isotherms and hysteresis loops of a naturally aged, decayed sample (AOS), an aged sound sample (AIS), and a reference sample (RS), using classical sorption isotherm models revealed that the moisture sorption behaviour of samples from the same growth ring in a Baotou beam can differ significantly. AOS showed higher hygroscopicity than AIS, and both these samples were more hygroscopic than RS. Furthermore, the mono/multilayer moisture contents of AOS were always higher than those of AIS and RS. In addition, Fourier transform infrared, second-derivative infrared, and two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate chemical changes in the samples. The relative hemicellulose and lignin contents of the samples changed significantly with wood aging. Furthermore, AOS exhibited the highest calcium oxalate content, which may be associated with fungal infections. Overall, these results provide valuable insights into the effects of aging on wood samples and the dimensional stability of timber structures, which could inform future research on methods for the preservation or restoration of aging timber structures.

Indoor relative humidity shapes influenza seasonality in temperate and subtropical climates in China

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to explore whether indoor or outdoor relative humidity (RH) modulates the influenza epidemic transmission in temperate and subtropical climates.

METHODS

In this study, the daily temperature and RH in 1558 households from March 2017 to January 2019 in five cities across both temperate and subtropical regions in China were collected. City-level outdoor temperature and RH from 2013 to 2019 were collected from the weather stations. We first estimated the effective reproduction number (R_t) of influenza and then used time-series analyses to explore the relationship between indoor/outdoor RH/absolute humidity and the R_t of influenza. Furthermore, we expanded the measured 1-year indoor temperature and the RH data into 5 years and used the same method to examine the relationship between indoor/outdoor RH and the R_t of influenza.

RESULTS

Indoor RH displayed a seasonal pattern, with highs during the summer months and lows during the winter months, whereas outdoor RH fluctuated with no consistent pattern in subtropical regions. The R_t of influenza followed a U-shaped relationship with indoor RH in both temperate and subtropical regions, whereas a U-shaped relationship was not observed between outdoor RH and R_t. In addition, indoor RH may be a better indicator for R_t of influenza than indoor absolute humidity.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicated that indoor RH may be the driver of influenza seasonality in both temperate and subtropical locations in China.

Analysis of the Interior Microclimate in Art Nouveau Heritage Buildings for the Protection of Exhibits and Human Health

Poor air quality inside museums can have a double effect; on the one hand, influencing the integrity of the exhibits and on the other hand, endangering the health of employees and visitors. Both components can be very sensitive to the influence of the internal microclimate, therefore careful monitoring of the physical parameters and pollutants is required in order to maintain them within strict limits and thus to reduce the hazards that can be induced. The current study considers the determination and analysis of 15 indicators of the internal microclimate in an Art Nouveau museum built at the beginning of the 20th century in the Municipality of Oradea, Romania. The monitoring spanned a period of seven months, between September 2021 and March 2022, targeting three rooms of the museum with different characteristics and containing exhibits with a high degree of fragility. The results show that, although there are numerous indicators that have exceeded the thresholds induced by international standards, the possible negative impact on the exhibits and/or on human health remains moderate. This is due to the fact that, most of the time, exceeding the permitted limits are small or only sporadic, the values quickly returning to the permitted limits. Thus, only 22 of the 212 days of monitoring recorded marginal conditions regarding the quality of the indoor air, the rest having acceptable and good conditions. To improve the indoor conditions, a more careful management is needed, especially regarding the values of temperature, humidity, particulate matters, natural and artificial light, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde (HCHO), which during the measurements recorded high values that fluctuated in a wide spectrum. The obtained results can represent the basis for the development and implementation of long-term strategies for stabilizing the microclimatic conditions in the museum in order to preserve the exhibits preventively and to ensure a clean and safe environment for people.

Application of Electrospun Water-Soluble Synthetic Polymers for Multifunctional Air Filters and Face Masks

The worsening of air quality is an urgent human health issue of modern society. The outbreak of COVID-19 has made the improvement of air quality even more imperative, both for the general achievement of major health gains and to reduce the critical factors in the transmission of airborne diseases. Thus, the development of solutions for the filtration of airborne pollutants is pivotal. Electrospinning has gained wide attention as an effective fabrication technique for preparing ultrafine fibers which are specifically tailored for air filtration. Nevertheless, the utilization of harmful organic solvents is the major barrier for the large-scale applicability of electrospinning. The use of water-soluble synthetic polymers has attracted increasing attention as a 'green' solution in electrospinning. We reported an overview of the last five years of the scientific literature on the use of water-soluble synthetic polymers for the fabrication of multifunctional air filters layers. Most of recent studies have focused on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Various modifications of electrospun polymers have been also described. The use of water-soluble synthetic polymers can contribute to the scalability of electrospinning and pave the way to innovative applications. Further studies will be required to fully harness the potentiality of these 'greener' electrospinning processes.

Spatial Effects of Air Pollution on the Siting of Enterprises: Evidence from China

The siting of enterprises is important for enterprises to formulate business objectives and business strategies, both of which are crucial to the development of enterprises in the future. Although there exists an irrefutable fact that the increasingly serious environmental problems are affecting the behaviors of enterprises, how air pollution affects the siting of enterprises has received little academic attention. Therefore, using the dataset of Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2014 to 2020, this paper employs the Spatial Durbin Model to investigate the direct and spatial spillover effects of air pollution on the site selection of enterprises. In addition, this paper also establishes a mediation effect model to explore the impact mechanism of air pollution on the site selection of enterprises. The empirical results show that air pollution exerts a negative impact on both the local and spatially related regions' enterprises' site selection, and the above conclusion is reinforced through a series of robustness checks. The heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that air pollution has a greater inhibitory effect on the siting of low-cleaning enterprises and small-scale enterprises for the local and adjacent regions. The mechanism analysis results indicate that air pollution inhibits the siting of enterprises by reducing the local labor endowment and market scale. Our study enriches the relevant theory of air pollution and enterprises' location nexus, and it also provides an empirical basis for the Chinese government to formulate policies related to air governance and the siting of enterprises.

Forecasting the Volume of Tourism Services in Uzbekistan

The aim of the present research is to assess the impact of factors such as welfare, infrastructure, security, and the environment on inbound tourism as well as to develop its forecast. Six proxy indicators of the above-mentioned factors were selected as variables, namely, welfare (real GDP per capita, life expectancy, consumer price index), infrastructure (passenger transportation volume), security (total recorded crimes), and the environment (CO2 emissions). We used a time series-univariate ARIMA model to forecast the inbound tourism in the Republic of Uzbekistan, and applied the ARDL model to assess the impact of lagged real GDP per capita on inbound tourism in both the short and long terms. The results of our research show that security and welfare significantly affect the inflow of foreign tourists in the country, along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the effects of which are expected to persist beyond 2026.

Propagation and Diffusion of Fluorescent Substances with Footprints in Indoor Environments

Some studies have shown that contaminants can be transferred between floors and the soles, and there are few studies on pollutant propagation caused by human walking in real-life situations. This study explored the propagation and diffusion law of ground pollutants from rubber soles to poly vinyl chloride (PVC) floor during indoor walking through employing a fluorescent solution as a simulant. The footprint decay (D) and transfer efficiency (τ) of the fluorescent solution transferred from the sole to the indoor floor during walking were analyzed based on the fluorescent footprint imaging. The effects of namely body weight (50–75 kg), walking frequency (80–120 steps/min), and solution viscosity (oil and water) were also investigated. It was found that the total fluorescence gray value on the ground decreased exponentially as the number of walking steps (i) increased. The relationship between the normalized gray value of the fluorescent solution (D) on each floor panel i was Di=aebi,2.1≤a≤3.8,–1.4≤b≤–0.7, and τ was distributed in the range of 0.51–0.72. All influencing factors had a significant effect on a, and a greater body weight resulted in a smaller a value, while only the body weight had a significant effect on b and τ, and a greater body weight led to larger b and lower τ values.

Interdisciplinary Research to Advance Digital Imagery and Natural Compounds for Eco-Cleaning and for Preserving Textile Cultural Heritage

The old fibers that make up heritage textiles displayed in museums are degraded by the aging process, environmental conditions (microclimates, particulate matter, pollutants, sunlight) and the action of microorganisms. In order to counteract these processes and keep the textile exhibits in good condition for as long as possible, both reactive and preventive interventions on them are necessary. Based on these ideas, the present study aims to test a natural and non-invasive method of cleaning historic textiles, which includes the use of a natural substance with a known antifungal effect (being traditionally used in various rural communities)-lye. The design of the study was aimed at examining a traditional women's shirt that is aged between 80-100 years, using artificial intelligence techniques for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imagery analysis and X-ray powder diffraction technique in order to achieve a complex and accurate investigation and monitoring of the object's realities. The determinations were performed both before and after washing the material with lye. SEM microscopy investigations of the ecologically washed textile specimens showed that the number of microorganism colonies, as well as the amount of dust, decreased. It was also observed that the surface cellulose fibers lost their integrity, eventually being loosened on cellulose fibers of cotton threads. This could better visualize the presence of microfibrils that connect the cellulose fibers in cotton textiles. The results obtained could be of real value both for the restorers, the textile collections of the different museums, and for the researchers in the field of cultural heritage. By applying such a methodology, cotton tests can be effectively cleaned without compromising the integrity of the material.

Rare Romanian Ethnographic Textiles—Reverse Engineering of Fabrics for Fashion Trends

(1) Investigating, collecting data with specific character, as well as registering and investigating data concerning ornaments and colors, patterns as expressive possibilities of designs of Romanian folk textile are important activities to do. The first goal of the research undertaken was to collect, preserve, and protect knowledge about old patterns and weaving techniques in selected regions of Romania, and the second to use old patterns for the modern needs of folk handicraft weaving and the clothing industry. (2) In the undertaken research, material was obtained from antique textiles, clothes, and paintings on canvas, from selected objects in the Maramureș region and Bihor region. The selection was made by the ReliefF method. The specimens of specification throw weight by the geometry method was used to characterize the types of weaving techniques. Principal component analysis methods were used to reduce the amount of data of the vector of textural features. (3) The research on selected Romanian textiles allowed for the construction of a model of texture features that describes them. The results include the specimens’ measurements, analysis of fabric structures, yarn specification, and the reconstruction of the fabrics. Based on the obtained results, a simulation of fashion trends was performed. (4) The analysis of individual components increased the knowledge of weaving techniques in the studied regions and may be an inspiration for contemporary design in local and regional handicrafts as well as in the clothing industry.

Optimizing the Sensitivity of Biological Particle Detectors through Atmospheric Particle Analysis According to Climatic Characteristics in South Korea

Biological agents used in biological warfare or bioterrorism are also present in bioaerosols. Prompt identification of a biological weapon and its characteristics is necessary. Herein, we optimized an environmentally adaptive detection algorithm that can better reflect changes in the complex South Korean environment than the current models. The algorithm distinguished between normal and biological particles using a laser-induced fluorescence-based biological particle detector capable of real-time measurements and size classification. We ensured that the algorithm operated with minimal false alarms in any environment by training based on experimental data acquired from an area where rainfall, snow, fog and mist, Asian dust, and water waves on the beach occur. To prevent time and money wastage due to false alarms, the detection performance for each level of sensitivity was examined to enable the selection of multiple sensitivities according to the background, and the appropriate level of sensitivity for the climate was determined. The basic sensitivity was set more conservatively than before, with a 3% alarm rate at 20 agent-containing particles per liter of air (ACPLA) and a 100% alarm rate at 63 ACPLA. The reliability was increased by optimizing five variables. False alarms did not occur in situations where no alarm was unnecessary.

Smart Tags: IoT Sensors for Monitoring the Micro-Climate of Cultural Heritage Monuments

The building materials of Cultural Heritage monuments are subjected to continuous degradation throughout the years, mainly due to their exposure to harsh and unexpected weather phenomena related to Climate Change. The specific climatic conditions at their vicinity, especially when there are local peculiarities such as onshore breeze, are of crucial importance for studying the deterioration rate and the identification of proper mitigation actions. Generalized models that are based on climate data can provide an insight on the deterioration but fail to offer a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. To this end, in the context of the EU-funded HYPERION project a distributed smart sensor network will be deployed at the Cultural Heritage monuments in four study areas as the solution to this problem. The developed system, which is demonstrated in this paper, includes smart IoT devices, called Smart Tags, designed to provide environmental measurements close to monuments, a middle-ware to facilitate the communication and a visualization platform where the collected information is presented. Last but not least, special focus is given to the device’s NB-IoT connectivity and its power efficiency by conducting various tests and extract useful conclusions.

Supporting Tourism by Assessing the Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccination for Travel Reasons

The persistence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus imposed vaccination passports for traveling in most countries. We investigated psychological factors that predict the intention to vaccinate for travel. In a cross-sectional study, we examined how demographic variables, vaccination status, perceived risk of infection and severity of disease contracted at travel destination, safety and effectiveness of vaccines against contracting COVID-19 during travel, and conspiracy beliefs are related to intention to vaccinate for travel. Further analyses involved differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in a Romanian sample regarding conspiracy beliefs, attitudes about vaccines, and self-efficacy of controlling COVID-19 infection. Results showed that the intention to vaccinate for travel reasons is best predicted by vaccination status and perceptions of safety and efficacy of vaccines against COVID-19. Thus, vaccinated individuals believing that vaccines are safe and effective most probably will take another vaccine booster if it will allow them to travel. Positive relationships of the intention to vaccinate for travel reasons were found with age, vaccination status, conspiracy beliefs, perceptions of safety and effectiveness of vaccines, intention to travel, and a more cautious approach to travel. No significant relationships were found between perceptions of risk for self or for transmitting the disease to others, severity of disease, and the intention to vaccinate for travel. We also found significant differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated participants, as unvaccinated participants showed higher levels of conspiracy beliefs and less trust in the safety and efficacy of vaccines. We conclude that campaigns focused on promoting information on the safety and efficacy of vaccines is the most important direction for promoting vaccination in young travelers.