Awareness raising and dealing with methanol poisoning based on effective strategies.

Intoxication with methanol most commonly occurs as a consequence of ingesting, inhaling, or coming into contact with formulations that include methanol as a base. Clinical manifestations of methanol poisoning include suppression of the central nervous system, gastrointestinal symptoms, and decompensated metabolic acidosis, which is associated with impaired vision and either early or late blindness within 0.5-4 h after ingestion. After ingestion, methanol concentrations in the blood that are greater than 50 mg/dl should raise some concern. Ingested methanol is typically digested by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and it is subsequently redistributed to the body's water to attain a volume distribution that is about equivalent to 0.77 L/kg. Moreover, it is removed from the body as its natural, unchanged parent molecules. Due to the fact that methanol poisoning is relatively uncommon but frequently involves a large number of victims at the same time, this type of incident occupies a special position in the field of clinical toxicology. The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase in erroneous assumptions regarding the preventative capability of methanol in comparison to viral infection. More than 1000 Iranians fell ill, and more than 300 of them passed away in March of this year after they consumed methanol in the expectation that it would protect them from a new coronavirus. The Atlanta epidemic, which involved 323 individuals and resulted in the deaths of 41, is one example of mass poisoning. Another example is the Kristiansand outbreak, which involved 70 people and resulted in the deaths of three. In 2003, the AAPCC received reports of more than one thousand pediatric exposures. Since methanol poisoning is associated with high mortality rates, it is vital that the condition be addressed seriously and managed as quickly as feasible. The objective of this review was to raise awareness about the mechanism and metabolism of methanol toxicity, the introduction of therapeutic interventions such as gastrointestinal decontamination and methanol metabolism inhibition, the correction of metabolic disturbances, and the establishment of novel diagnostic/screening nanoparticle-based strategies for methanol poisoning such as the discovery of ADH inhibitors as well as the detection of the adulteration of alcoholic drinks by nanoparticles in order to prevent methanol poisoning. In conclusion, increasing warnings and knowledge about clinical manifestations, medical interventions, and novel strategies for methanol poisoning probably results in a decrease in the death load.

Potential Effect of SARS-CoV-2 on Solar Energy Generation: Environmental Dynamics and Implications

The Covid-19 pandemic is exerting a significant influence on global energy markets, and continuing to hinder the growth of core technology for the implementation of renewable forms of energy. With an unprecedented effect, the new coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV2, has succeeded to seize the control of most cities of the world and led to their closure. The newly-emerged virus has also resulted in environmental changes. The present study was conducted to show the indirect positive effects of COVID-19 on the reduction of air pollution, particularly in countries such as Italy, France, and India. Our research proved the existence of meaningful relationships between probable actions, air quality improvement, and increased energy generation by photovoltaic systems (PVs). Newly-obtained data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite illustrate that some cities have experienced a 45 to 50% reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration compared to the same period in the past year. This reduction has provided two important and unexpected benefits, namely the reduction in environmental pollution (specifically air pollution) and, as a consequence, an increase in the amount of energy generated by PVs.

Effect of COVID-19 virus on reducing GHG emission and increasing energy generated by renewable energy sources: A brief study in Malaysian context.

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has globally affected the human mortality rate and economic history of the modern world. According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 has caused a severe threat to the health of the vulnerable groups, notably the elderly. There is still some disagreements regarding the source of the virus and its intermediate host. However, the spread of this disease has caused most countries to enforce strict curfew laws and close most industrial and recreational centres. This study aims to show the potential positive effects of COVID-19 on the environment and the increase of renewable energy generation in Malaysia. To prevent the spread of this disease, Malaysia enacted the Movement Control Order (MCO) law in March 2020. Implementation of this law led to a reduction in environmental pollution, especially air pollution, in this country. The greenhouse gases (GHG) emission , which was 8 Mt CO2 eq. from January 2020 to March 2020, reduced to <1 Mt CO2 eq. for April and May. The reduction of GHG emission and pollutant gases allowed more sunlight to reach photovoltaic panels, hence increasing the renewable energy generation.

A Multi-Criteria Framework for Designing of Stand-alone and Grid-Connected Photovoltaic, Wind, Battery Clean Energy System Considering Reliability and Economic Assessment

This paper multi-criteria designing framework of a hybrid photovoltaic (PV)/wind (WT) clean energy system with battery (BA) storage (HPV/WT/BA) considering cost and reliability assessment is presented to supply an annual load based on real irradiance and wind speed patterns. The designing goal is optimal sizing of the HPV/WT/BA system with the objective of minimizing the net present cost of clean energy generation (NPCEG) as well as the loss of load and CO2 emission cost with satisfying reliability constraint as energy not supplied probability (ENSP) considering stand-alone and grid-connected modes. Decision-making variables include an optimal number of PVs, WTs, batteries, inverter transferred power and PVs angle that is determined optimally using new improved moth flame optimization (IMFO) based on decreasing inertia weight strategy (DIWS) to overcome premature convergence. The designing is implemented for various system combinations in stand-alone mode, including HPV/BA, HWT/BA and HPV/WT/BA systems. The simulation results showed that the HPV/WT/BA is the best combination with the lowest NPCEG and the best ENSP in load supply. The superiority of the IMFO is proved compared to conventional MFO and PSO in designing of different combinations in view of cost and reliability in stand-alone mode. Moreover, the results of HPV/WT/BA optimal designing in a grid-connected mode based IMFO showed the less NPCEG and better ENSP compared to stand-alone mode due to network support with purchasing the network power and CO2 environmental waste emission cost minimization. The results showed that variation of network power, reliability constraint and also inverter efficiency has a considerable effect on designing cost and reliability. Moreover, the results illustrated the reduction of NPCEG and reliability enhancement in the condition of Covid-19.