Passive house optimization for Southern Italy based on the “New Passivhaus Standard”

The IEE Passive-On project has drafted a proposal to adapt that Standard to the conditions that characterize Southern Europe, which is described in this paper together with its rationale. Compared with the original definition, one of the main changes is the introduction of explicit requirements on internal comfort during summer, in parallel to a limit to energy needs for cooling. The dynamic simulations conducted to test the new definition of the Standard in the context of Southern Italy (e.g. Palermo) show that the requirements identified by the Passivhaus Standard can be met by simplifying the envelope technologies (e.g. relaxing air-tightness design value) used in the context of Central Europe and adopting passive cooling strategies appropriately adjusted. Some simplifications of the ventilation system can be compensated by an increased role of thermal insulation of the building envelope and some of the choices can make energy needs tend to zero. In accordance with EN15251, thermal comfort is characterized according to Fanger’s PMV in cases where mechanical cooling is still required for peak situations, and according to the adaptive model where no mechanical cooling is required

Evaluation of building envelope retrofit techniques for reducing energy needs for space cooling.

One of the fastest growing sources of new energy demand is space cooling. According to EU-studies a four-fold growth in air-conditioned space is likely to take place between 1990 and 2020. The energy savings achievable in the end-use space cooling depend on a number of variables related to the building envelope, the plants and to some extent the behaviour of occupants. They are hence complex to evaluate and consequently often underrepresented in energy efficiency programmes and National Plans. This paper is based on some preliminary results of the IEE project KeepCool 2. It discusses in particular: a methodology for bottom-up assessment of the energy savings related to "sustainable summer comfort" solutions; reference base case building typologies are analyzed in 5 European climates, and dynamic simulations are used to calculate the reductions in the energy need for cooling which can be achieved by specific retrofit actions (e.g. additions of effective solar protections, increased thermal insulation, night ventilation, increase of active mass by PCM, low solar absorbance surfaces,...); situations where mechanical cooling can be avoided are evaluated using the Adaptive Comfort model, according to the norm EN 15251. case studies of buildings with good summer comfort and low energy consumption performances, according to the ten steps of the KC2 procedure. the analysis of case studies of "comfort policies" adopted by public and private bodies to ensure summer comfort with low energy consumption (commitments to give priority to heat load reductions instead of introducing mechanical cooling, relaxed dress codes, low thermal insulation chairs, local air velocity increase)

Aseptic meningitis in a patient taking etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

Background \ud We report a case of a 53 year old lady recently commenced on etanercept, an anti-TNF (tumour necrosis factor) therapy for rheumatoid arthritis presenting with \ud confusion, pyrexia and an erythematous rash. \ud \ud Case presentation \ud A lumbar puncture was highly suggestive of bacterial meningitis, but CSF cultures produced no growth, and polymerase chain reactions (PCR) for all previously reported bacterial, fungal and viral causes of meningitis were negative. \ud \ud Conclusions \ud This case report describes aseptic meningitis as a previously unreported complication of etanercept therapy, and serves as a reminder of the rare but potentially lifethreatening risk of serious infections in patients taking anti-TNF therapy for a variety of conditions

Protection and disinfection policies against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

In late December 2019, reports from China of the incidence of pneumonia with unknown etiology were sent to the World Health Organization (WHO). Shortly afterwards, the cause of this disease was identified as the novel beta-coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and its genetic sequence was published on January 12, 2020. Human-to-human transmission via respiratory droplets and contact with aerosol infected surfaces are the major ways of transmitting this virus. Here we attempted to collect information on virus stability in the air and on surfaces and ways of preventing of SARS-CoV-2 spreading

Impact of therapeutic choices on outcome of osteomyelitis caused by MRSA

Fifty-four patients with chronic osteomyelitis sustained by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus were treated with daptomycin, linezolid, or teicoplanin and observed over time. Median time to CRP normalization was 7 weeks for daptomycin, 8 weeks for linezolid, and 12 weeks for teicoplanin (X2 =14.1; p < 0.001). Cure rate (intention to treat analysis) was 83% for the cases receiving teicoplanin, 77% for those receiving linezolid and 92% for those receiving daptomycin. We conclude that daptomycin and linezolid have to be considered at least equivalent to teicoplanin for the treatment of MRSA osteomyelitis

Pea PSII-LHCII supercomplexes form pairs by making connections across the stromal gap

In higher plant thylakoids, the heterogeneous distribution of photosynthetic protein complexes is a determinant for the formation of grana, stacks of membrane discs that are densely populated with Photosystem II (PSII) and its light harvesting complex (LHCII). PSII associates with LHCII to form the PSII-LHCII supercomplex, a crucial component for solar energy conversion. Here, we report a biochemical, structural and functional characterization of pairs of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes, which were isolated under physiologically-relevant cation concentrations. Using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, we determined the three-dimensional structure of paired C2S2M PSII-LHCII supercomplexes at 14 angstrom resolution. The two supercomplexes interact on their stromal sides through a specific overlap between apposing LHCII trimers and via physical connections that span the stromal gap, one of which is likely formed by interactions between the N-terminal loops of two Lhcb4 monomeric LHCII subunits. Fast chlorophyll fluorescence induction analysis showed that paired PSII-LHCII supercomplexes are energetically coupled. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that additional flexible physical connections may form between the apposing LHCII trimers of paired PSII-LHCII supercomplexes in appressed thylakoid membranes. Our findings provide new insights into how interactions between pairs of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes can link adjacent thylakoids to mediate the stacking of grana membranes

Near-field speckle imaging of light localization in disordered photonic

Optical localization in strongly disordered photonic media is an attractive topic for proposing novel cavity-like structures. Light interference can produce random modes confined within small volumes, whose spatial distribution in the near-field is predicted to show hot spots at the nanoscale. However, these near-field speckles have not yet been experimentally investigated due to the lack of a high spatial resolution imaging techniques. Here, we study a system where the disorder is induced by random drilling air holes in a GaAs suspended membrane with internal InAs quantum dots. We perform deep-subwavelength near-field experiments in the telecom window to directly image the spatial distribution of the electric field intensity of disordered-induced localized optical modes. We retrieve the near-field speckle patterns that extend over few micrometers and show several single speckles of the order of λ/10 size. The results are compared with the numerical calculations and with the recent findings in the literature of disordered media. Notably, the hot spots of random modes are found in proximity of the air holes of the disordered system

Aseptic meningitis in a patient taking etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

© 2008 Booker et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Adverse Events Associated with BNT162b2 and AZD1222 Vaccines in the Real World: Surveillance Report in a Single Italian Vaccine Center

Aim: Despite huge efforts in developing specific drugs, vaccination represents the only effective strategy against COVID-19. Efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines were established during clinical trials. Nonetheless, it is very important to perform continuous surveillance. This observational study aimed to report potential Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) following the first dose of two different COVID-19 vaccines, BNT162b2 and AZD1222. Methods and Results: Subjects who underwent vaccination at the vaccine center of the University Hospital of Salerno, Italy, were interviewed using an ad hoc questionnaire. AZD-vac group (n = 175) who received AZD1222 had a higher number of AEFI than the BNT-vac group (n = 1613) who received BNT162b2 (83% vs. 42%). The most frequent AEFI associated with AZD1222 and BNT162b2 were fever and pain at the injection site, respectively. The AZD-vac group used drugs to contrast AEFI more frequently than the BNT-vac group. In the BNT-vac group, there was a higher incidence of AEFI in women than in men (26.2% vs. 15.8%, p = 0.01), while no gender-related difference was observed in the AZD-vac group. Conclusions: AZD1222 and BNT162b2 vaccines show a good safety profile. Based on our results and literature data, there are no reasons to justify the reluctance that persists towards immunization