Comfortable Home Research Articles

The Study of the Influence of the Educational Environment on the Deterioration of the Health of Medical University Students

One of the important socio-hygienic indicators of public health is the prevalence of eye diseases. According to the WHO World Vision Report, the problem of visual impairment is global in nature. It is noted that at least 2.2 billion people suffer from visual impairment worldwide. There is a worldwide trend of increasing the annual increase in ophthalmic patients in all population groups. This article discusses the problem of deterioration of ophthalmological health of students. During their studies at the university, the health of students deteriorates, there is an increase in chronic pathology, including ophthalmology. By the end of the institute, about 50-70% of students have visual impairments. The article considers the issues of the influence of students' learning conditions outside educational institutions on the deterioration of ophthalmological health. The students of the medical university were studied by means of a questionnaire. It is established that more than 90% of students prepare for classes in comfortable home conditions. About a third of the students are engaged in self-training in the prone position. And among them, there is a higher percentage of people with progressive posture disorders and progressive visual impairment compared to those who practice sitting. The high intensity of the educational process with prolonged, more than 4 hours a day, use of electronic devices, including mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, is accompanied by a large visual load and leads to visual fatigue in 72.8% of the studied. The obtained data state the need to take them into account for the development of a set of preventive measures aimed at continuing the formation of healthy lifestyle attitudes among students, attracting internists, orthopedists, ophthalmologists, hygienists, since prevention and compliance with hygienic standards play a crucial role in maintaining the health of every person.

Advantages of Strengthening the Long-Term Care Facilities’ Networking with Hospitals and Community Services

Although people live longer in developed countries, it may not be the quality metric for healthy living. This rapid aging is concerning due to the unmet psychosocial needs and the diagnosed and potential chronic disease conditions. Furthermore, despite the government, policymakers, and researchers tirelessly trying to design modern long-term care services to meet the dual needs of the aging population, such as psychosocial and medical needs, progress is being limited. Unfortunately, as much as every person wishes to age in their comfort home, community living is not ideal for everyone due to their complex needs and family circumstances. Therefore, at present, around 1.3 million elderly and other dependent populations are living in more than united states certified nursing homes. Where these nursing homes serve as temporary residences for some of them until they recover and for some as permanent residences due to homelessness and poverty [1]. However, most of these nursing homes in the United States are cited as a concern for the quality. Therefore, the author wants to gain insight into strengthening long-term care networking with broader healthcare settings such as hospitals and community-based services contribution to the quality of nursing home care.

Bereaved parent preferences on quality end-of-life care for children with cancer in the South.

The authors sought to understand bereaved family preferences for end-of-life (EOL) care, particularly among Black families and those in the South. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of children who died of cancer ≥6 months before at Children's of Alabama. Themes were identified via content analysis. Quotes related to medical intensity, chemotherapy, and location of death (LOD) were scored on 5-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 (comfort care, chemotherapy, or home death) to 5 (medically intense care, avoidance of chemotherapy, or hospital death). Twenty-seven bereaved parents (12 Black) were interviewed. Children died at a mean of 13.1 years (SD=6.1 years) and a median of 3 years before the interview (range=1-12 years). Ten children (42%) had central nervous system tumors and the majority (63%) died in the hospital. Family decision-making involved maintaining hope, not causing harm, doing what was best for their child and themselves, and religious beliefs. There was no clear preference for home versus hospital death (3.0 [1.8-4.0]). Instead, parents considered their child's desires and/or medical needs, siblings, and prior experiences with death. To have a comfortable death, parents highlighted the need for comprehensive education about their child's EOL, a caring and comfortable environment, and 24/7 access to their care team. Families expressed a dual preference for comfort care (1.8 [1.3-2.8]) and chemotherapy (3.5 [2.7-4.1]) at EOL. Families did not see chemotherapy and comfort care as conflicting goals. They sought quality care emphasizing flexibility, quality time with their child, and open access to their care team, regardless of LOD.

Artificial Degradation of Two Wooden Species of Different Density and Their Use for Optimization of Thermal Comfort in Climatic Areas of Marine and Mesoandean Desert

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavior of two species of wood of different density and the most commercialized in the southern regions of Peru: Schizolobium excelsum (pashaco) and Aniba gigantiflora (mohena), in order to choose the appropriate timber species for housing coating and contribute to thermal comfort. Wood is known to be a widely used material in construction due to its mechanical, aesthetic and sustainable properties. However, its durability is compromised by environmental factors. The degradation of wood can manifest itself in the form of cracking, erosion and discoloration, affecting its structural integrity and appearance. On the other hand, several studios have designed multilayered facades as an architectural strategy that seeks to optimize the thermal comfort of the interior spaces. Previous studies have shown that the configuration of multilayer facades with wood can result in a significant improvement of the thermal performance of buildings, for this purpose the best timber species must be chosen. Context: In this context, samples of two timber species were selected and evaluated in their natural state and coated with commercial surface protector, and wood thermally treated at 180 °C; these samples were subjected to accelerated degradation in a QUV equipment under conditions of UV radiation (0.89 W/m2 nm at 340 nm), humidity (by condensation and spray) and high temperatures (up to 60 °C), according to EN 927-6:2018 (European Committee for Standardization, 2018) for a total of 2016 hours. Results: The results showed statistically that the wood in its natural state, and with commercial coating presented cracking, fissures, erosion and discoloration. However, the heat treated wood presented better results of resistance against cracks. Finally, the species Schizolobium excelsum (density 0.33 g/cm3) is more resistant to exposed climatic conditions. Chosen the best timber species, it was configured as part of the multi-layer facade system composed of: heat treated wood, elastomer, air, OSB board and polyurethane insulators and its behavior was simulated to optimize thermal comfort in homes of marine desert climates and Andean meso with THERM software. The result showed an internal temperature concentration of 20 °C versus 0 °C of external temperature, this result considering only structures of walls of the house. Implications of the research: The implications of the research is at the level of material development, since the results reflect the need to develop coatings and treatments for wood that offer greater protection against degradation that respond to demands for durability and sustainability. Another implication is at the level of design strategy, the configuration of multi-layer facade with heat treated wood, can be adopted in architectural design to improve thermal comfort in marine or Mesoandean desert climatic areas. Originality: The originality of this inside research in which an accelerated degradation equipment was used, which allowed to have a realistic frame of reference to evaluate the behavior of materials in adverse climatic conditions. Likewise, it was possible to identify the timber species, more resistant to extreme climatic factors and by simulating the thermal behavior of this material, it is concluded that it is viable against other timber species.

Program Director and Nephrology Fellow Perception of Home Hemodialysis Education in the United States

Background: Public policy focuses on increasing the prevalence of home dialysis. Home hemodialysis (HHD) education and comfort with the procedure are significant barriers to increasing prevalence. This study examines nephrology fellowship didactic curriculum, training program infrastructure and barriers identified by both program directors and trainees Methods: The anonymous, on-line survey was developed to assess HHD curriculum in US nephrology fellowship programs. During academic year 2023-24, all US nephrology program directors (n=150) were surveyed and asked to forward survey link to their fellows, and to indicate the number to whom they forwarded the link. Results: Fifty-five (55/150; 37%) US nephrology program directors responded to the survey; 80% completed it. Thirty-seven (37/55, 67%) forwarded the link to their fellows. Fellow response rate was 53/237 (22%); 50/53 completed it (94%). 75% of the program directors reported either having an HHD curriculum or were developing one. Program directors reported that didactic lectures (87%) were the most frequently available curriculum component, whereas fellows report education on counselling (72%) was most frequent. 60% of fellows and 86% of program directors reported fellow attendance at HHD longitudinal/continuity clinic (routinely or as part of a block rotation). Both PDs and fellows identified insufficient patients as a key barrier to implementing HHD curriculum. Fellows who attended outpatient HHD clinic felt more confident and prepared in HHD-related competencies. Conclusions: The HHD curriculum exists as didactic lectures, attendance at outside HHD courses, and ESKD-shared decision-making at training programs. Most programs also have continuity clinics. Our findings highlight the presence of curriculum although inconsistent. Fellows who worked in clinic were more likely to be confident and more prepared to manage HHD patients. Additionally, fellows with longitudinal clinic felt better prepared than those attending block rotations. Training programs should consider incorporating HHD longitudinal clinical rotations, although this may require creativity to achieve.

Evaluating the performance of six 1970s off-gas deep retrofit bungalows

This paper presents the energy and environmental performance of whole house energy systems implemented in six 1970s bungalows in South Wales, owned by Swansea Council. The objective was to reduce energy demand and carbon emissions, maximise renewable supply whilst ensuring a comfortable and affordable home for the residents. The whole house energy system for each home involved the installation of a combination of passive and active low carbon solutions. Detailed monitoring was carried out for a year before and for more than 2 years after the work, annual figures have been validated and normalised for weather. Analysis of monitored data confirms that Standard Assessment Performance ratings improved from 12 to 95. The average annual energy consumption across the six bungalows was reduced from 16,117 to 4560 kWh. 2418 kWh was provided by the PV panels and battery, with 1963 kWh of excess electricity that could be sold back to the grid. Real-life average Ground Source Heat Pump CoP was monitored at 3.3. Embodied carbon for retrofitting each house is estimated at 22,980 KgCO2e +/−20%, approximately 5-years carbon payback. Indoor conditions have been improved with internal temperature and relative humidity achieving standards with residents reporting levels of improved comfort satisfaction. Practical Application A whole house energy system demonstrates the benefits of a holistic, fabric and systems retrofit approach. The work informs how gathering data using appropriate methods assists modelling predictions and decisions throughout the retrofit stages. The study demonstrates extensive monitoring as a vital tool to evaluate the performance of the individual components and the whole system within the home, as used by the residents. Performance evaluation is critical in identifying issues, allowing resolutions to be made both immediately on-site as well for longer term, follow on retrofit programmes. Real-life performance evaluation and visualisation methods are transferable across global building industry.

The adaptive thermal comfort of individual performance working at home

Eco-friendly architecture (EFA) is a design approach to produce healthy and comfortable buildings. In the pandemic era and in years to come when working from home is a trend, a healthy and comfortable home is crucial because people spend their time at home. Thermal comfort is considered the most significant comfort factor for building occupants, especially at home. This paper reports a study on the relationship between thermal comfort, individual performance, and productivity while working at home. Data was collected qualitatively through observation, heat transfer calculation, and in-depth interviews. This study concludes that a thermally comfortable house that follows the EFA concept is an aspect that influences performance and productivity. However, thermal comfort is not the only aspect related to comfort. Habits and adaptation of occupants to certain conditions also affect comfort, which leads to good performance and productivity. Occupants feel comfortable doing office and household tasks at home due to their adaptation to the surrounding thermal comfort based on their preferences.

Tailored edible 3D porous scaffolds constructed by Pickering emulgel templating for cell-cultured fish meat

Cell-cultured fish meat have emerged as an innovative approach to resolving the issues in response to consumer demand. Food-grade scaffolds, which not only serve as the “comfortable home” for stem cells but also endow the final product with meat-like texture, play a vital role in the construction of cell-cultured fish meat. In this study, pea protein, an abundant and inexpensive plant protein, is used to construct edible three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds, which exhibit desirable stem cell proliferation and differentiation performance. Our findings demonstrate that it is feasible to apply the Pickering emulgel templating combined with double-crosslinking to the preparation of cell-cultured fish meat scaffolds. The pore structure of 3D porous scaffolds can be altered by varying the emulsification parameters on demand. The Pickering emulgels with large droplet size (around 40 μm) are conducive to the formation of 3D porous scaffolds with large enough pore size for the growth of stem cells. The now available result help to explore the plant protein-derived scaffolds, provide insights into the development of Pickering emulgel-based 3D porous scaffolds and illuminate the relationship between the structural characteristics of scaffolds and the biological functions of stem cells.

Climate policy as social policy? A comprehensive assessment of the economic impact of climate action in the UK

AbstractCo-benefits are central to the case for climate action but are side-lined in many economic analyses. This paper presents an evaluation of three dimensions of the costs and benefits of climate change interventions in six urban regions of the UK. Findings indicate that meeting the UK’s 2033–2037 climate targets could yield £164 billion in total benefits. Notably, only 13% of these benefits are financial, in contrast to the 79% of which are social benefits. These social benefits include improvements in public health, reduced traffic congestion, and increased thermal comfort in homes. These results underscore the need for economic evaluations to expand their scope and move beyond the narrow financial cost–benefit analysis that predominates. Moreover, the magnitude of the social benefits underscores the need for integrating social and climate challenges in policymaking. Concurrently, the results demonstrate the sensitivity of the social benefits of climate actions to the normative aspects of empirical analysis. Determining whether emissions reductions in the transport sector, for example, should be achieved through the deployment of electric cars, expansion of public transport, and/or increases in walking and cycling requires both technical analysis and value-based decision making. Ensuring that decision-making processes are deliberate and transparent in empirical analysis is therefore critical. We conclude by suggesting that institutions such as the UK Climate Change Committee and Scottish Climate Intelligence Service should take the opportunity to be more explicit in the normative decisions embedded in their empirical work to demonstrate best practice for the wider research community.

EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL OF VEGETATION STRUCTURES (VS) AND LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION IN MINIMIZING THERMAL PERFORMANCE IN A TROPICAL CLIMATE: A FIELDWORK STUDY

The study investigates the impact of vegetation structure within two landscape orientations on thermal performance, a critical consideration in urban planning and environmental management. Given the increasing concerns about Urban Heat Islands and global warming, understanding how vegetation influences thermal regulation is essential. This research employed a quantitative method through field measurement studies, focusing on two single-storey semi-detached houses namely East Landscape Orientation (ELO) and West Landscape Orientation (WLO) located at Seri Iskandar, Perak Malaysia. The snowball technique was utilized to select the case study houses, ensuring a targeted approach to understanding the effects. Thermal Microclimate Data Logger and Indoor Air Quality Monitor Data Logger were used to measure environmental parameters for thermal conditions, ensuring consistent, reliable, and comprehensive data for analyzing thermal performance in both outdoor and indoor environments. The research findings reveal that the orientation of a house relative to the sun's path significantly impacts its thermal dynamics, with vegetation playing a crucial role in moderating these effects. ELO houses benefit from milder morning sunlight and effective afternoon cooling, while WLO houses experience higher outdoor and indoor temperatures due to intense sunlight and less efficient transpiration by vegetation. Vegetation on the west side provides shade and reduces heat absorption, improving comfort and energy efficiency. Understanding these dynamics can help homeowners and architects make informed decisions about landscape design, enhancing thermal comfort and energy efficiency in homes. This research also contributes to the expanding knowledge base on sustainable urban design by exploring the use of vegetation to enhance thermal performance.

The Effect of Occupant Behavior on the Residential Visual Environment: A Case Study from Annaba, Algeria

The construction of comfortable, energy-efficient and health-friendly homes is more crucial than ever at a time whenthe health crisis is forcing us to reconsider our way of life. This article used a post-occupancy evaluation of theinhabited space in residential buildings at Oued El-Fourcha neighborhood in Annaba to assess user satisfaction withoccupied buildings, examine the impact of daylighting and human behavior on the lighting ambience. The results ofthe study were processed by SPHINX Lexica software, focusing mainly on the qualitative aspects of daylighting in theinhabited space, taking into account occupant preferences. The study demonstrated an unfavorable level of internalilluminance, and that adequate lighting also needs to meet occupant requirements in order to make these windowsusable, which must satisfy a number of socio-cultural, climatic and environmental factors.

A Recommendation System for Prosumers Based on Large Language Models.

As modern technologies, particularly home assistant devices and sensors, become more integrated into our daily lives, they are also making their way into the domain of energy management within our homes. Homeowners, now acting as prosumers, have access to detailed information at 15-min or even 5-min intervals, including weather forecasts, outputs from renewable energy source (RES)-based systems, appliance schedules and the current energy balance, which details any deficits or surpluses along with their quantities and the predicted prices on the local energy market (LEM). The goal for these prosumers is to reduce costs while ensuring their home's comfort levels are maintained. However, given the complexity and the rapid decision-making required in managing this information, the need for a supportive system is evident. This is particularly true given the routine nature of these decisions, highlighting the potential for a system that provides personalized recommendations to optimize energy consumption, whether that involves adjusting the load or engaging in transactions with the LEM. In this context, we propose a recommendation system powered by large language models (LLMs), Scikit-llm and zero-shot classifiers, designed to evaluate specific scenarios and offer tailored advice for prosumers based on the available data at any given moment. Two scenarios for a prosumer of 5.9 kW are assessed using candidate labels, such as Decrease, Increase, Sell and Buy. A comparison with a content-based filtering system is provided considering the performance metrics that are relevant for prosumers.

Reverse design and additive manufacturing of furniture protective foot covers

Reverse design and additive manufacturing technologies are fast ways to develop customised products. In this study, furniture protective foot covers were taken as the design object. Using flexible filaments of polylactic acid (PLA) and the development process of reverse design to additive manufacturing, the protective foot covers were designed and manufactured to fit the shape of the chair feet. Furniture protective foot covers have high practical value. They have a certain buffering effect, avoiding the damage caused by the collision of furniture feet with the ground when moving furniture; secondly, they reduce the noise generated by the collision of furniture feet with the ground, creating a quiet and comfortable home environment. According to the finite element simulation results, the maximum stress value of the European-style chair installed with protective foot covers was decreased by 90.8% in the case of vertical fall, which verifies that the protective foot covers have an obvious buffering effect. Noise test results show that the noise of the European-style chair installed with protective foot covers was decreased by 51.0%, which verifies that the protective foot covers have an obvious quieting effect.

Co-creating sustainable value within a social enterprise: The case of digital homes housing association

This case focuses on how a social enterprise, Digital Homes Housing Association, collaborates with diverse stakeholders to co-create value that is mutually beneficial. It examines how value can be achieved in a sustainable manner while helping to address the prioritised social objectives of the social enterprise. The case outlines how Cormac Redpath, the Chief Executive of Digital Homes Housing Association, attempts to maximise the positive impact derived from stakeholder collaboration and engagement. The case explores Cormac's audit of the organisation's stakeholder activities, and his intention to formulate a streamlined value co-creation strategy that contributes to its social objectives more effectively than currently. The concept of co-creating sustainable value within a social enterprise is explored in the context of the Scottish social housing market, in which not-for-profit Housing Associations work with communities to provide safe, secure, comfortable and affordable homes to individuals who may otherwise not be able to access them.

Variations in Gender Perceptions of Summer Comfort and Adaptation in Colonial Revival-Style Homes

Past investigations have assessed gender variations in thermal comfort and adaptation in different buildings. However, no reported study has evaluated differences in gender perceptions of the thermal environment in US Colonial Revival-style homes. As a result, this study aims to provide an understanding of variations in gender perceptions of summer comfort and adaptation in the buildings. The study evaluated data collected during the field studies of thermal comfort (FSTC), including physical measurements of environmental variables and subjects’ votes. In this study, 67% females and 33% males participated in the field surveys in summertime. The mean neutral temperature of 25.5 °C and preferred temperature of 24.9 °C were noted for females. For males, the mean neutral and preferred temperatures of 25.8 °C and 25.6 °C were observed. Females feel neutral and prefer “no change” to the thermal environment at lower temperatures than males. A difference of 0.3 °C was noted between the average heat indices for females and males. Male respondents who feel warm perceive less air quality more than females. Females and males who perceive being thermally comfortable also perceive good air quality. Females and males who are thermally comfortable rated air humidity to be acceptable. There are similarities and differences between gender perceptions of the thermal environment. The investigation suggests interventions that can help users regulate their skin temperatures and use control measures that are sensitive to clothing insulation. The research also calls for policies that can promote building users’ pivotal adaptive measures to improve their indoor thermal environment. The study enhances our understanding of sustainable indoor environments and how to improve living conditions and adaptive modifications among different groups of occupants in buildings.

A decentralized federated learning based interoperable and heterogeneity aware predictive optimization method for energy and comfort in smart homes environment

It is a known fact that a comfortable residential space or workspace is crucial to productivity and well-being. In smart home environments, sensors can be used to sense environment and occupant data and actuators can be controlled accordingly for maximizing thermal comfort. However, keeping in view the growing demand of energy and scarcity of energy generation sources, it is mandatory to optimize the energy usage complementary to optimize thermal comfort. In order for the developed method to be interoperable and heterogeneity aware across different edge device vendors and for ease of hardware connectivity in smart homes, a REST API based framework is developed. Sensors mounted with IoT devices collect data from its respective smart home environment and store the data in its local database. An edge server is used to control the connectivity among these IoT devices and to initiate the decentralized federated learning mechanism. Each IoT device train local deep learning models for predicting energy usage, indoor temperature, indoor humidity for maintaining a comfortable environment state using minimal energy. Models from each IoT devices are aggregated at each IoT device iteratively to make federated learning independent of central server. Global deep learning model is iteratively trained for each prediction requirement. Later, these models are used to predict indoor temperature, humidity and energy consumption for time stamp (t+1), keeping in view environmental and occupant related sensed data at time stamp (t). Optimization of energy consumption and thermal comfort is mathematically modeled and based on the predictions of DL models, environment is controlled by handling actuators using a particle swarm optimization (PSO) mechanism. Relevant constraints are incorporated in PSO for limiting the positional variations in particles for efficient learning. The method continually learns and adapts to changes in the surroundings, providing real-time monitoring and control of thermal comfort to the end users. To validate our approach, data is collected and experiments are conducted in a real-time smart home’s environment. The results are compared with those obtained without using the proposed predictive optimization mechanism. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of proposed predictive optimization mechanism in providing a comfortable and productive smart home or workspace environment utilizing 38% less energy as compared to competitor.

Joshua McCarter Simpson's Songs and Mid-Nineteenth Century Antislavery Activism

AbstractThe Ohio-based Black songwriter, Joshua Simpson, published two books of antislavery songs in the mid-nineteenth century, Original Anti-Slavery Songs in 1852 and Emancipation Car in 1854. Unlike most other known songsters, which were compilations of poetry from several authors, Simpson authored original lyrics for borrowed melodies, and he did so with extraordinary care, engaging the original song to enhance his activist messages. Employing the rhetorical practice of signification, his linkage of new lyrics with preexisting songs sometimes builds upon meaning from the original text, reusing it to add weight to the moral and political arguments against slavery. He also extends nature imagery and lyrics about the comforts of home and family in traditional ballads and contemporary sentimental songs to his new lyrics, but more often his signifying practice is ironic. He inverts the original song's sentimentality in deliberately discomforting ways that could persuade Americans to assist self-emancipating people and work toward wholescale abolition of slavery. Simpson's most radical songs talk back irreverently to the originals, especially minstrel tunes containing degrading caricatures and proslavery propaganda as well as patriotic anthems proclaiming hypocritical platitudes. Simpson did not simply write new songs; he transformed some of the most popular and beloved songs of his era, harnessing their renown to sharpen his activist messages.

Improving tertiary education via remote learning: Insights from students and educators

Relevance. The growing adoption of distance learning in higher education necessitates an understanding of the pedagogical conditions that facilitate its effective implementation. Purpose. This study aimed to identify the pedagogical conditions that support successful integration of distance learning technologies in higher education. Methodology. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 206 first- to fourth-year pedagogy students, complemented by interviews with 28 teachers. The survey and interviews focused on experiences, advantages, and disadvantages of distance learning from both students� and teachers� perspectives. Results. The findings revealed that 89% of students favoured distance learning, highlighting benefits such as time and budget savings, comfortable home learning environments, easy access to necessary information, and flexible learning schedules. However, 11% of students reported dissatisfaction due to issues like internet outages, perceived lower quality of education, and lack of communication with peers and instructors. Teachers identified several challenges, including students� information assimilation, their own adaptation to teaching in distance formats, and administrative hurdles. Conclusions. Distance learning technologies, distinct from traditional methods, emphasize independent student activities and the use of information technology for knowledge exchange. Addressing the identified challenges and leveraging the benefits can significantly enhance the distance learning experience. Keywords: student adaptation; self-education; network technologies; digitalisation in education; pedagogical conditions

Extended Review Concerning the Integration of Electrochemical Biosensors into Modern IoT and Wearable Devices.

Electrochemical biosensors include a recognition component and an electronic transducer, which detect the body fluids with a high degree of accuracy. More importantly, they generate timely readings of the related physiological parameters, and they are suitable for integration into portable, wearable and implantable devices that are significant relative to point-of-care diagnostics scenarios. As an example, the personal glucose meter fundamentally improves the management of diabetes in the comfort of the patients' homes. This review paper analyzes the principles of electrochemical biosensing and the structural features of electrochemical biosensors relative to the implementation of health monitoring and disease diagnostics strategies. The analysis particularly considers the integration of the biosensors into wearable, portable, and implantable systems. The fundamental aim of this paper is to present and critically evaluate the identified significant developments in the scope of electrochemical biosensing for preventive and customized point-of-care diagnostic devices. The paper also approaches the most important engineering challenges that should be addressed in order to improve the sensing accuracy, and enable multiplexing and one-step processes, which mediate the integration of electrochemical biosensing devices into digital healthcare scenarios.

Growing up in discomfort: Exploring energy poverty and thermal comfort among students in Portugal

Energy poverty is a growing multidimensional concern worldwide, with children and young people particularly vulnerable. This age group spends a significant amount of time in both their houses and school buildings. To date, there has been little research on the dual vulnerability to inadequate thermal comfort conditions in these two environments. In Portugal, the exposure to inadequate thermal comfort in school buildings varies due to disparities in renovation efforts. This work aims to assess upper secondary school students' perception of energy poverty at home and thermal comfort inside classrooms. A survey method was employed comparing a sample of students from one renovated and one non-renovated school located in the Lisbon district. Surveys were complemented with interviews and surveys completed by other school stakeholders. The results indicate that between 4.2 and 14 % of students live in permanent discomfort (i.e., uncomfortable both at school and home). Despite the discomfort levels observed in students from the renovated school, it is possible to say that the renovation alleviated levels of discomfort. Students with health conditions and disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to report discomfort than those who did not. This study raises awareness of an underexplored vulnerable group and provides valuable insights into the issue of energy poverty among young people. It addresses the need to incorporate this age group in energy-related school policies and future renovation programs.