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Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13077

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Dr. Michal Puškár

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Department of Design and Transport Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Letná 1/9, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Interests: emissions; mechanical engineering; vehicle; marine
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is focused on all aspects related to the mechanical and biomedical engineering paradigm. Articles concerning environmental management and possibilities for the reduction of the environmental pollution caused by vehicles in road traffic are welcomed, as are scientific articles focused on advanced vehicle-driving systems and biofuels. Work oriented to public health (i.e., engineering solutions developed for the reduction of diseases and for medical applications) will also be considered. Manuscripts dealing with the prevention, diagnostics and treatment of COVID-19 from an engineering perspective are of particular interest. We recommend that contributors submit manuscripts that correspond to one or more of the above-mentioned topics. However, other contributions not directly related to these areas but still of interest to this Special Issue will also be considered.

Dr. Michal Puškár
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Environmental management
Environmental pollution and vehicles
Additive manufacturing, biomaterials and public health
Engineering solutions developed for application in medicine and in order to reduce diseases
COVID-19: prevention, diagnostics and treatment from an engineering perspective.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1807 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Feedback Form and Its Role in Improving the Quality of Trauma Care

by Hany Bahouth, Roi Abramov, Moran Bodas, Michael Halberthal and Shaul Lin

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1866; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031866 - 07 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1622

Abstract

Background: One of the tasks of a level I trauma center is quality improvement of level II and level III regional hospitals and emergency medical services by means of continuous education and learning processes. One of the tools for this, which provides constant monitoring of the quality of treatment, is feedback. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of feedback on the quality of trauma care. Methods: Retrospective cohort study comprising two periods of time, 2012–2013 and 2017–2018. The study group included physicians and pre-hospital staff who treated patients prior to referral to the level I center. Upon arrival when the trauma teams identified issues requiring improvement, they were asked to fill in feedback forms. Data on patients treated in the trauma shock room for whom feedback forms were filled out were also extracted. Results: A total of 662 feedback forms were completed, showing a significant improvement (p ˂ 0.0001). The majority of the medical personnel who received the most negative feedback were the pre-hospital staff. A significant increase was revealed in the number of feedbacks with reference to mismanagement of backboard spinal fixation, of the pre-hospital staff, in 2012–2013 compared to 2017–2018 (p < 0.001). Improvement in reducing the time of treatment in the field was also revealed, from 15.2 ± 8.3 min in 2012–2013 to 13.4 ± 7.9 min in 2017–2018. Conclusion: The findings show that feedback improves the treatment of injured patients. Furthermore, constantly monitoring the quality of treatment provided by the trauma team is vital for improvement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm)

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11 pages, 1660 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Internal Modifications to Optimize Pollution and Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines through Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making and Artificial Neural Networks

by María Isabel Lamas Galdo, Javier Telmo Miranda, José Manuel Rebollido Lorenzo and Claudio Giovanni Caccia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(23), 12823; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312823 - 05 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1571

Abstract

The present work proposes several modifications to optimize both emissions and consumption in a commercial marine diesel engine. A numerical model was carried out to characterize the emissions and consumption of the engine under several performance parameters. Particularly, five internal modifications were analyzed: water addition; exhaust gas recirculation; and modification of the intake valve closing, overlap timing, and cooling water temperature. It was found that the result on the emissions and consumption presents conflicting criteria, and thus, a multiple-criteria decision-making model was carried out to characterize the most appropriate parameters. In order to analyze a high number of possibilities in a reasonable time, an artificial neural network was developed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm)

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11 pages, 44306 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research and Development of Self-Contained Water Injection Systems

by Jiri Bazala, Guillaume Hébert, Oliver Fischer, Jürgen Nothbaum, Matthias Thewes, Tobias Voßhall, Peter Diehl and Pavel Kučera

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(10), 5392; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105392 - 18 May 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2137

Abstract

Reducing fuel consumption and thus CO₂ emissions is one of the most urgent tasks of current research in the field of internal combustion engines. Water Injection has proven its benefits to increase power or optimize fuel consumption of passenger cars. This technology enables knock mitigation to either increase the engine power output or raise the compression ratio and efficiency while enabling λ = 1 operation in the complete engine map to meet future emission targets. Current systems have limited container capacity. It is necessary to refill the water tank regularly. This also means that we cannot get the benefits of an engine with a higher compression ratio. For this reason, the self-contained system was investigated. This article is a methodology for finding the right design of a self-contained water injection system, but also a vehicle test that proves the function. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm)

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16 pages, 3969 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Model to Analyze the Physicochemical Mechanisms Involved in CO₂ Absorption by an Aqueous Ammonia Droplet

by M. I. Lamas Galdo, J. D. Rodriguez García and J. M. Rebollido Lorenzo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4119; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084119 - 13 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1914

Abstract

CO₂ is the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas and its reduction plays a decisive role in reducing global climate change. As a CO₂ elimination method, the present work is based on chemical absorption using aqueous ammonia as solvent. A CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model was developed to study CO₂ capture in a single droplet. The objective was to identify the main mechanisms responsible for CO₂ absorption, such as diffusion, solubility, convection, chemical dissociation, and evaporation. The proposed CFD model takes into consideration the fluid motion inside and outside the droplet. It was found that diffusion prevails over convection, especially for small droplets. Chemical reactions increase the absorption by up to 472.7% in comparison with physical absorption alone, and evaporation reduces the absorption up to 41.9% for the parameters studied in the present work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm)

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7 pages, 350 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

COVID-19 Worsens Chronic Lumbosacral Radicular Pain—Case Series Report

by Róbert Illéš, Juraj Chochol, Andrej Džubera, Alica Chocholová and Erika Zemková

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(11), 6410; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116410 - 25 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1916

Abstract

The knowledge of the COVID-19 symptomatology has increased since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The symptoms of nervous system involvement have been observed across the spectrum of COVID-19 severity. Reports describing difficulties of nerve roots are rare; the affection of brain and spinal cord by SARS-CoV-2 is of leading interest. Our aim therefore is to describe the radicular pain deterioration in the group of nine chronic lumbosacral radicular syndrome sufferers in acute COVID-19. The intensity of radicular pain was evaluated by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The VAS score in acute infection increased from 5.6 ± 1.1 to 8.0 ± 1.3 (Cohen’s d = 1.99) over the course of COVID-19, indicating dramatic aggravation of pain intensity. However, the VAS score decreased spontaneously to pre-infection levels after 4 weeks of COVID-19 recovery (5.8 ± 1.1). The acute SARS-CoV-2 infection worsened the pre-existing neural root irritation symptomatology, which may be ascribed to SARS-CoV-2 radiculitis of neural roots already compressed by the previous disc herniation. These findings based on clinical observations indicate that the neurotropism of novel coronavirus infection can play an important role in the neural root irritation symptomatology deterioration in patients with chronic pre-existing lumbosacral radicular syndrome. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm)

7 pages, 687 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

Vertebral Algic Syndrome Treatment in Long COVID—Cases Reports

by Andrej Džubera, Juraj Chochol, Róbert Illéš, Alica Chocholová and Erika Zemková

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11457; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111457 - 30 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2847

Abstract

Though pain is a frequent symptom of long COVID-19, little attention has been paid to vertebral algic syndrome. Therefore, we present the cases reports of two precisely selected physically active patients where vertebral algic syndrome and radiculopathy dramatically worsened in acute SARS-CoV-2 infections. The vertebral pain with radicular irritation was resistant to conservative treatment in chronic post-COVID syndrome. The neurological difficulties corresponded to the radiologic imaging presented on MRI scans. Due to the absence of standard therapeutic guidelines in literature sources, it was decided to provide routine therapeutic procedures. Spinal surgery with radicular decompression was performed within 6 months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. This led to the improvement of their neurological status and was in corroboration with decreases of VAS (from 9 to 0 in Patient 1 and from 7 to 1 in Patient 2). Our experience indicates that these patients benefited from the standard neurosurgical radicular decompression, and sufficient pain relief was achieved; nevertheless, the initial trigger of neurological worsening was acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in Paradigm)

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