Related papers: Solar UV$-$B$/$A radiation is highly effective in …
Lockdowns imposed in most of the countries were lifted following a decline in the COVID-19 cases towards May-June 2020. A recent surge (second wave) in the COVID-19 cases in Europe and other temperate countries as compared to the tropical…
Periodic disinfection of workspaces can reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In many buildings periodic disinfection is performed manually; this has several disadvantages: it is expensive, limited in the number of times it can be done over a…
It is well known that several viruses, as well as SARS-CoV-2, can be transmitted through airborne diffusion of saliva micro-droplets. For this reason many reserach groups have been devoted their efforts in order to gain new insight into the…
Immunization with an inactivated virus is one of the strategies currently being tested towards developing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. One of the methods used to inactivate viruses is exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation to damage their…
Seasonality of acute viral respiratory diseases is a well-known and yet not fully understood phenomenon. Several models have been proposed to explain the regularity of yearly recurring outbreaks and the phase-differences observed at…
UVC radiation has been recently used to disinfect hospital, daycare and public places. It can be used to reduce bacteria by deactivating their DNA. Our work is to examine the effectiveness of UVC radiation (254 nm) in inactivating the…
Vaccines are among the most powerful tools used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. They are highly effective against infection and substantially reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, ICU admission, and death. However, their…
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is currently spreading rapidly throughout the world, causing many deaths and severe economic damage. It is believed that hot and humid conditions do not favor the novel…
We investigated the potential biological impacts at Earth's surface of stratospheric O3 depletion caused by nearby supernovae known to have occurred about 2.5 and 8 million years ago at about 50 pc distance. New and previously published…
Astrophysical ionizing radiation events have been recognized as a potential threat to life on Earth, primarily through depletion of stratospheric ozone and subsequent increase in surface-level solar ultraviolet radiation. Simulations of the…
Surface solar irradiance varies on scales as small as seconds or meters due to scattering and absorption by the atmosphere. Clouds are the main driver of this variability, but moisture structures in the atmospheric boundary layer and…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) directed at Earth from within a few kpc may have damaged the biosphere, primarily though changes in atmospheric chemistry which admit greatly increased Solar UV. However, GRBs are highly variable in spectrum and…
The last solar minimum has been unusually quiet compared to the previous minima (since space-based radiometric measurements are available). The Sun's magnetic flux was substantially lower during this minimum. Some studies also show that the…
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected public health, healthcare systems, and daily life, especially amid resource shortages and limited workers. This crisis has underscored the urgent need for automation in hospital environments,…
The present report briefly reviews the basic features of the current strategy for the protection against the health harms caused by solar ultraviolet (UV, 295 - 400 nm). The emphasis has been made upon the erythema as being the best-studied…
Far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation is a driving source of photochemistry in planetary atmospheres. Proper interpretation of atmospheric observations requires a full understanding of the radiation environment that a planet is exposed to. Using…
The UV environment is a key boundary condition for the origin of life. However, considerable uncertainty exists as to planetary conditions and hence surface UV at abiogenesis. Here, we present two-stream multi-layer clear-sky calculations…
We describe an experimental setup developed aiming to irradiate samples under UV radiation for accelerated test for solar effects according to the relevant ECSS-ESA standards. This facility has been already used for projects belonging to…
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) light emitted by the Sun impacts satellite operations and communications and affects the habitability of planets. Currently, EUV-observing instruments are constrained to viewing the Sun from its equator (i.e.,…
The wide use of surgical masks has been proven effective for mitigating the spread of respiration diseases, such as COVID-19, alongside social distance control, vaccines, and other efforts. With the newly reported variants, such as Delta…