Private hospital energy performance benchmarking using energy audit data: an Italian case study

The increased focus on energy efficiency, both at the national and international levels, has fostered the diffusion and development of specific energy consumption benchmarks for most relevant economic sectors. In this context, energy-intensive facilities, such as hospitals and health structures, represent a unique case. Indeed, despite the high energy consumption of these structures, scientific literature lacks the presence of adequate energy performance benchmarks, especially in regard to the European context. Thus, this study aimed at defining energy benchmark indicators for the Italian private healthcare sector using data collected from the Italian mandatory energy audits according to Art.8 EU Directive 27/2012. The benchmark indicators’ definition was made using a methodology proposed by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). This methodology provided the calculation of specific energy performance indicators (EnPIs) by considering the global energy consumption of the different sites and the sector’s relevant variables. The results obtained were compared with those obtained from a consolidated but more complex methodology: the one envisaged by the Environmental Protection Agency. The results obtained allowed us to validate the reliability of the proposed methodology, as well as the validity and future usability of the calculated indicators. Relying on a significant database containing actual data from recent energy audits, this study was thus able to provide an up-to-date and reliable benchmark for the private healthcare sector

Phage-derived protein induces increased platelet activation and is associated with mortality in patients with invasive pneumococcal disease

To improve our understanding about the severity of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), we investigated the association between the genotype of Streptococcus pneumoniae and disease outcomes for 349 bacteremic patients. A pneumococcal genome-wide association study (GWAS) demonstrated a strong correlation between 30-day mortality and the presence of the phage-derived gene pblB, encoding a platelet-binding protein whose effects on platelet activation were previously unknown. Platelets are increasingly recognized as key players of the innate immune system, and in sepsis, excessive platelet activation contributes to microvascular obstruction, tissue hypoperfusion, and finally multiorgan failure, leading to mortality. Our in vitro studies revealed that pblB expression was induced by fluoroquinolones but not by the beta-lactam antibiotic penicillin G. Subsequently, we determined pblB induction and platelet activation by incubating whole blood with the wild type or a pblB knockout mutant in the presence or absence of antibiotics commonly administered to our patient cohort. pblB-dependent enhancement of platelet activation, as measured by increased expression of the ɑ-granule protein P-selectin, the binding of fibrinogen to the activated ɑ IIbβ3 receptor, and the formation of platelet-monocyte complex occurred irrespective of antibiotic exposure. In conclusion, the presence of pblB on the pneumococcal chromosome potentially leads to increased mortality in patients with an invasive S. pneumoniae infection, which may be explained by enhanced platelet activation. This study highlights the clinical utility of a bacterial GWAS, followed by functional characterization, to identify bacterial factors involved in disease severity. IMPORTANCE The exact mechanisms causing mortality in invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) patients are not completely understood. We examined 349 patients with IPD and found in a bacterial genome-wide association study (GWAS) that the presence of the phage-derived gene pblB was associated with mortality in the first 30 days after hospitalization. Although pblB has been extensively studied in Streptococcus mitis, its consequence for the interaction between platelets and Streptococcus pneumoniae is largely unknown. Platelets are important in immunity and inflammation, and excessive platelet activation contributes to microvascular obstruction and multiorgan failure, leading to mortality. We therefore developed this study to assess whether the expression of pblB might increase the risk of death for IPD patients through its effect on enhanced platelet activation. This study also shows the value of integrating extensive bacterial genomics and clinical data in predicting and understanding pathogen virulence, which in turn will help to improve prognosis and therapy

Determinismo biológico e as neurociências no caso do transtorno de déficit de atenção com hiperatividade Biological determinism and neuroscience in the case of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity

Nosso objetivo é refletir de que forma as neurociências podem ser fortemente reducionistas quando tentam explicar comportamentos somente com base em processos cerebrais, e usamos como exemplo o caso do transtorno de déficit de atenção com hiperatividade (TDAH). O reducionismo ao qual nos referimos, também chamado determinismo biológico ou neurogenético, na questão das neurociências, é o epistemológico, ou seja, aquele que tenta explicar um problema complexo apenas por algumas de suas partes, desconsiderando outros fatores, tais como sociais e culturais. Como o TDAH atualmente é descrito essencialmente como uma doença cerebral, aplicamos um modelo de sequência redutora defeituosa para o determinismo neurogenético proposto por Steven Rose, que inclui: objetivação, aglomeração arbitrária, quantificação improcedente, crença na normalidade estatística, localização ilegítima, causalidade fora de lugar, classificação dicotômica de causas genéticas e ambientais e a confusão de metáfora com homologia. A vida é um fenômeno complexo e está relacionada com aspectos biológicos e sociais. Dessa forma, explicações sobre ela são adequadas somente quando levam em conta esses dois aspectos. Sugerimos, dessa forma, que parte das neurociências utiliza explicações reducionistas para várias condições mentais classificadas como doenças, incluindo o TDAH.<br>Our goal is to reflect how the neurosciences can be strongly reductionist when trying to explain behaviors based solely on brain processes, and use as an example the case of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD). The reductionism to which we refer, also called biological or neurogenetic determinism, the question of neuroscience, is the epistemological, ie one that tries to explain a complex problem for only some of its parts, ignoring other factors such as social and cultural. As ADHD is currently described as essentially a disease of the brain, we applied a model for defective reductive sequence neurogenetic determinism proposed by Steven Rose, which includes: objectification, arbitrary agglomeration, quantification unfounded belief in statistical normality, location illegitimate, causality outside place, dichotomous classification of genetic and environmental causes and confusion of metaphor with homology. Life is a complex phenomenon and is related to biological and social aspects. Thus, explanations are appropriate only when it takes into account these two aspects. We suggest, therefore, that some uses of neuroscience reductionist explanations for various conditions classified as mental illnesses, including ADHD