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Wood and bio-based construction products are perceived as a way to use renewable resources, to save energy and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG)-emissions during production and to store carbon during the entire service life of the building. This article compares the carbon footprint per kilogram of wood products (softwood beams, plywood, oriented strand board panel, and fibre board) from the perspective of the life cycle assessment methodology for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of practitioners from 16 countries participating in the IEA Annex 72. These materials are used in PAL6 softwood structure multi-residential building. This article aims at comparing the carbon footprint accounting methods from 16 countries for PAL6 multi-residential building. Each national team applied the reference study period (RSP), life cycle modules covered, modelling rules, the geographical scope of inventory data as well as the LCA database according to its specific national method. The results show that there are three types of methodology to assess a building with biogenic content (0/0, -1/+1, -1/+1*). The results were more variable plywood, oriented strand board, and fibreboard than the softwood beams due to the variability in the wood transformation processes among the countries. A net negative carbon balance was obtained for the softwood beam for the countries using -1/+1* with a clear assumption of the fraction of the carbon permanently stored at the end-of-life (EoL). The carbon storage is only possible if it is secured at the EoL. Participating countries apply different definitions of permanence and EoL scenarios. Guideline on assessing, monitoring, and legally reporting carbon storage at the EoL are needed, based on concertation between standard, life cycle assessment, wood industry, and climate experts.

Wood and bio-based construction products are perceived as a way to use renewable resources, to save energy and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG)-emissions during production and to store carbon during the entire service life of the building. This article compares the carbon footprint per kilogram of wood products (softwood beams, plywood, oriented strand board panel, and fibre board) from the perspective of the life cycle assessment methodology for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of practitioners from 16 countries participating in the IEA Annex 72. These materials are used in PAL6 softwood structure multi-residential building. This article aims at comparing the carbon footprint accounting methods from 16 countries for PAL6 multi-residential building. Each national team applied the reference study period (RSP), life cycle modules covered, modelling rules, the geographical scope of inventory data as well as the LCA database according to its specific national method. The results show that there are three types of methodology to assess a building with biogenic content (0/0, -1/+1, -1/+1*). The results were more variable plywood, oriented strand board, and fibreboard than the softwood beams due to the variability in the wood transformation processes among the countries. A net negative carbon balance was obtained for the softwood beam for the countries using -1/+1* with a clear assumption of the fraction of the carbon permanently stored at the end-of-life (EoL). The carbon storage is only possible if it is secured at the EoL. Participating countries apply different definitions of permanence and EoL scenarios. Guideline on assessing, monitoring, and legally reporting carbon storage at the EoL are needed, based on concertation between standard, life cycle assessment, wood industry, and climate experts.

Background: Agmination and or satellitosis in pigmented blue lesions is a phenomenon rarely mentioned in the literature and not well known. This phenomenon can be expressed by several benign and malignant pigmented blue lesions, such as blue nevi, Spitz nevi, melanocytoma and melanoma. On this spectrum, dermoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and dynamic Optical coherence tomography (D-OCT) represent non-invasive imaging technologies, which may help clinicians in the diagnosis of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers in daily clinical practice. Methods: Currently, in the literature there is a lack of new data about agminated blue lesions and blues lesions with satellitosis, as well as the lack of a recent and updated review of the literature about this topic. Therefore, considering that clinicians must be confident with the diagnosis of these rare skin lesions, we decided to carry out this work. Results: In this paper, four new cases of agminated pigmented cutaneous lesions were described. Moreover, a review of the current literature on this topic was performed. Conclusions: A clinical pathological correlation is often needed to reach a correct diagnosis; currently, dermoscopy and non-invasive diagnostic techniques, such as reflectance confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography, due to the depth of these skin lesions in the dermis, can only make a partial and limited contribution.

OBJECTIVES: Delayed detection in TB due to structural and diagnostic shortcomings is pivotal for disease transmission, morbidity and mortality. We investigated whether an inclusive screening, followed by a structured clinical follow-up (FU) could improve case -finding. METHODS: Patients were recruited from health centres in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, and Gondar, Ethiopia. A routine FU was done at Week 2. If persisting symptoms were found, patients were investigated using chest X-ray (CXR) and Xpert (R) MTB/RIF, followed by a medical consultation. The main outcome were additional TB patients diagnosed by applying the FU strategy. RESULTS: Of 3,571 adults, 3,285 (95%) were examined at Week 2 FU, where 2,491 (72%) were asymptomatic. Screening patients presenting with cough > 2 weeks alone contributed to the diagnosis of 93 patients (45% of all patients diagnosed here), whereas a TBscore > 3 increased this by 18 (9%); adding a Week 2 FU yielded an additional 94 (46%) patients. Among the 794 (24%) with persisting symptoms, 25 were diagnosed using Xpert and 69 at clinical FU, which constituted 46% (94/205) of the total TB patients diagnosed. CONCLUSION: A Week 2 FU visit, which can be nested into routine healthcare, increased the diagnosis of TB patients by two -fold and avoids diagnostic gaps in the cascade -of -care., Funding Agencies|Novo Nordisk Foundation; Scandinavian Society for Anti- microbial Chemotherapy Foundation (Stockholm, Sweden); Swedish Research Council (Stockholm, Sweden); Gondar University (Gondar, Ethiopia)

In the present investigation, the optimization of a pressurized solid–liquid extraction of polyphenols from Pinus pinaster Aiton needles and bark residues has been carried out using new deep eutectic solvent systems (DES). A Box–Behnken design with response surface methodology was implemented, with six variables, including solid:liquid ratio, water content, temperature, extraction time, reactor closure state, and catalyst concentration. The DES consisting of levulinic acid: formic acid exhibited the highest content, and the optimal conditions were determined to be 0.10 g of residue in 10 mL of solvent (without water) and without catalyst, at 60 °C for 5 min. The method demonstrated excellent repeatability and intermediate precision, with a coefficient of variation of less than 5%. In addition, the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the polyphenol-enriched extracts were evaluated, obtaining a total reduction in S. aureus cell growth and remarkable antioxidant levels of 144.72 ± 4.24 and 161.01 ± 4.70 mg Trolox equivalents/gram for needle and bark residues, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the new DES are remarkably superior to conventional solvents and can be recycled and reused, demonstrating that these systems have a promising environmental profile, making them valuable alternatives for biomass fractionation.