Air pollution poses one of the greatest human health threats in the twenty‐first century, accounting for an estimated 7 million premature deaths annually. In the light of this, global efforts to promote clean air are ever more important and should feature among the key priorities on the agenda of the international community. The universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, offers an important opportunity to tackle air pollution at a global scale. Stressing the importance of air pollution as a human health hazard, this article examines to what extent air quality is covered by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ( SDG s), and provides an analysis of the added value of the 2030 Agenda vis‐à‐vis existing international regulatory instruments addressing air pollution. Even though the SDG s do not include a stand‐alone goal on air quality, the article concludes that the 2030 Agenda, by establishing clean air as an integral element of the principle of sustainable development, not only constitutes an important contribution to international (hard) law focusing on the atmosphere, but also sets out a much needed complementary pathway of tackling the issue in the absence of a global agreement on air pollution.
Background: Severe neonatal jaundice (SNJ) and the associated long-term health sequelae are a significant problem in low-income countries (LIC) where measurement of total serum bilirubin (TSB) is often unavailable. Transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) provides the opportunity for non-invasive, point-of-care monitoring. Few studies have evaluated its agreement with TSB levels during phototherapy in LIC.Aim: To determine agreement between TcB and TSB during phototherapy in a Haitian newborn population and to establish whether TcB can be safely used to guide treatment during phototherapy when TSB is unavailable.Methods: A single-centre prospective study (February to May 2017) in Cap Haïtien, northern Haiti was undertaken. Newborns <7 days of age with clinically detected jaundice were eligible for inclusion. A TcB device (JM-103) was used to screen for newborn jaundice along with a parallel TSB. A strip of black tape was placed across the sternum during phototherapy and uncovered for subsequent TcB measurements. Decisions about phototherapy treatment were based upon UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) threshold criteria. Paired TSB and TcB measurements were compared using Bland–Altman methods.Results: The final analysis included 70 parallel TSB/TcB measurements from 35 infants within the first 5 days of life. Nineteen (54.3%) were male and 12 (34.3%) were <35 weeks. Thirty-two (91.4%) were receiving phototherapy. There was good agreement between TSB and TcB. Compared with TSB, TcB tended to over-estimate bilirubin (mean difference 11.1 µmol/L, 95% CI −10.2–32.5 µmol/L). However, at higher bilirubin levels (>250 µmol/L), TcB tended to under-estimate bilirubin compared with TSB and the difference increased.Conclusion: In an LIC setting in which serum bilirubin testing is not commonly available, TcB demonstrates good agreement with TSB and can be safely used to guide jaundice treatment during phototherapy but can lead to over-treatment at lower bilirubin levels and are more inaccurate at higher levels. For TcB levels >250 µmol, confirmation with serum bilirubin should be performed, if available, to avoid under-estimation.Abbreviations: LIC: low income countries; LMIC: low and middle income countries; TcB: transcutaneous bilirubinometry; TSB: transcutaneous serum biliubin
During fabrication of Pressure Vessels, steels undergo several heat treatments that aim to confer the required properties on the entire equipment, including welds and base metal. Indeed, the Quality heat treatment of the base material, which leads to achieve the target properties, is most of the time followed by Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT). The aim of such treatments is to insure a good behaviour of the welded zones in terms of residual stresses and obviously properties such as toughness. Generally, many simulated PWHT (up to 4 or more) are required for the testing of the base material, which can affect its properties and even lead to non acceptable results. In some cases for fabrication purposes an intermediate Stress relieving treatment can be required. Special attention is paid on C-Mn steels (e.g. SA/A516 from ASME BPV Code) with the effect of thickness and Ceq (IIW Carbon equivalent formula: see page 3) requirements on the final compromise between properties and heat treatments. In particular, toughness and UTS are the critical parameters that will limit the acceptance of too high PWHT. Although micro-alloying is a mean to increase the resistance to PWHT, this leads to difficulties in softening the heat affected zones. This solution is therefore not the best one considering the whole equipment optimisation. Finally, the manufacturing process can play a major role when specifications are stringent. Quenching and tempering can indeed provide better flexibility in terms of PWHT and improved toughness for given Ceq and thickness. The case of Cr-Mo(-V) steels, which are widely used in the energy industry, is also addressed. Indeed, PWHT requirements for increasing the toughness in the weld metal can lead to decrease the base metal properties below the specification limits. For example, the case of SA/A387gr11 is very typical of metallurgical changes that can occur during these high PWHT leading to a degradation of toughness in the base metal. Another focus is made on the Vanadium Cr-Mo grade SA/A542D that must withstand very high PWHT (705°C and even 710°C) because of welds toughness issues. Optimisation has therefore to be done to increase the resistance to softening and to guarantee acceptable microstructure, especially in the case of thick wall vessels. Some ways for improvement are proposed on the basis of the equivalent LMP tempering parameter concept. The basic philosophy is to fulfil the need for discussion between companies involved in pressure vessels fabrication so that the best compromise can be found to ensure the best and safest behaviour of the equipment as a whole.
La Direction de l'expertise des structures du ministere wallon de l'Equipement et des Transports a acquis en 1997 un appareillage d'impact-echo dans le but d'ausculter ses ponts en beton arme ou precontraint. L'experience d'utilisateurs occasionnels de cette technique, ainsi que les succes et echecs rencontres, ont ete synthetises. Des structures simples,dont on connaissait la nature et la localisation des defauts, ont d'abord ete auscultes en laboratoire. Les experiences de chantier ont ete ensuite reparties en trois categories, selon le type de defaut recherche: localisation de vides divers, defaut d'injection de cables de precontrainte et degradation de dalles de tablier. Un dernier point traite des developpements en cours pour le traitement du signal. (A). (Titres en anglais, allemand et espagnol: Summary of impact-echo method applications by the Structural Appraisal Division of the Walloon Ministry of Public Works and Transport; Ueberlick ueber den Einsatz des Impakt-Echo-Verfahrens durch die Abteilung fuer Bauwerksbegutechtung des wallonischen Ministeriums fuer Strassenbauwesen und Verkehr; Sintesis sobre el uso del impacto-eco por la Direccion de peritacion de estructuras del Ministerio valon de Obras Publicas y Transportes).
