SARS-CoV-2 infection in health workers: analysis from Verona SIEROEPID Study during the pre-vaccination era

Background: To report the baseline phase of the SIEROEPID study on SARS-CoV-2 infection seroprevalence among health workers at the University Hospital of Verona, Italy, between spring and fall 2020; to compare performances of several laboratory tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection. Methods: 5299 voluntary health workers were enrolled from 28 April 2020 to 28 July 2020 to assess immunological response to SARS-CoV-2 infection throughout IgM, IgG and IgA serum levels titration by four laboratory tests. Association of antibody titre with several demographic variables, swab tests and performance tests (sensitivity, specificity, and agreement) were statistically analyzed. Results: The overall seroprevalence was 6%, considering either IgG and IgM, and 4.8% considering IgG. Working in COVID-19 Units was not associated with a statistically significant increase in the number of infected workers. Cohen's kappa of agreement between MaglumiTM and VivaDiagTM was quite good when considering IgG only (Cohen's kappa = 78.1%, 95% CI 74.0-82.0%), but was lower considering IgM (Cohen's kappa = 13.3%, 95% CI 7.8-18.7%). Conclusion: The large sample size with high participation (84.7%), the biobank and the longitudinal design were significant achievements, offering a baseline dataset as the benchmark for risk assessment, health surveillance and management of SARS-CoV-2 infection for the hospital workforce, especially considering the ongoing vaccination campaign. Study results support the national regulator guidelines on using swabs for SARS-CoV-2 screening with health workers and using the serological tests to contribute to the epidemiological assessment of the spread of the virus

Shall I trust you? From child-robot interaction to trusting relationships

Studying trust in the context of human-robot interaction is of great importance given the increasing relevance and presence of robotic agents in various social settings, from educational to clinical. In the present study, we investigated the acquisition, loss and restoration of trust when preschool and school-age children played with either a human or a humanoid robot in-vivo. The relationship between trust and the representation of the quality of attachment relationships, Theory of Mind, and executive function skills was also investigated. Additionally, to outline children\u2019s beliefs about the mental competencies of the robot, we further evaluated the attribution of mental states to the interactive agent. In general, no substantial differences were found in children\u2019s trust in the play-partner as a function of agency (human or robot). Nevertheless, 3-years-olds showed a trend toward trusting the human more than the robot, as opposed to 7-years-olds, who displayed the reverse pattern. These findings align with results showing that, for children aged 3 and 7 years, the cognitive ability to switch was significantly associated with trust restoration in the human and the robot, respectively. Additionally, supporting previous findings, a dichotomy was found between attribution of mental states to the human and robot and children\u2019s behavior: while attributing significantly lower mental states to the robot than the human, in the trusting game children behaved similarly when they related to the human and the robot. Altogether, the results of this study highlight that comparable psychological mechanisms are at play when children are to establish a novel trustful relationship with a human and robot partner. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the interplay \u2013 during development \u2013 between children\u2019s quality of attachment relationships and the development of a Theory of Mind, which act differently on trust dynamics as a function of the children\u2019s age as well as the interactive partner\u2019s nature (human vs. robot)

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

SOJA, TAMBOS Y DESPOBLAMIENTO RURAL EN EL DPTO. CASTELLANOS. SANTA FE. ARGENTINA

En este trabajo se pretende analizar las características de la población rural, tanto dispersa como agrupada, del Departamento Castellanos, en función de cambios que se manifiestan en los últimos dos Censos Nacionales de Población y Vivienda (1991 y 2001) y relacionar estas características con las transformaciones que se produjeron en las tres últimas décadas en la estructura agropecuaria. Para ello se analizan fuentes oficiales de datos y entrevistas efectuadas a productores.El ritmo de crecimiento y la estructura de la población, como así también su distribución espacial, muestran signos evidentes de pérdida de poblacional.Esta zona integra la cuenca lechera santafesina-cordobesa, que se fue gestando desde principios del siglo veinte en base a explotaciones familiares medianas y pequeñas, que organizaron también la industria láctea gracias a un fuerte movimiento cooperativista. Alrededor de 1970 comienza en la región pampeana un fuerte proceso de avance del cultivo de soja que va desplazando a otros granos y a la ganadería. El desequilibrio entre la rentabilidad de la producción agrícola y la ganadera también tienen un alto impacto en la población rural: el abandono de explotaciones ganaderas, tanto de las destinadas a la producción de carne como lechera, provoca la expulsión de una enorme masa de trabajadores rurales y de mano de obra de industrias derivadas, sobre todo de las pequeñas medianas, provocando el despoblamiento del campo y de pequeñas localidades, como así también en un incremento de  la desocupación

Radiant floor cooling coupled with dehumidification systems in residential buildings: A simulation-based analysis

The development of radiant cooling has stimulated an interest in new systems based on coupling ventilation with radiant cooling. However, radiant cooling systems may cause condensation to form on an active surface under warm and humid conditions during the cooling season. This phenomenon occurs when surface temperature falls below dew point. To prevent condensation, air humidity needs to be reduced with a dehumidification device or a mechanical ventilation system. There are two main options to achieve this. The first is to use dehumidification devices that reduce humidity, but are not coupled with ventilation, i.e. devices that handle room air and leave air change to infiltrations. The second is to combine a mechanical ventilation system with dehumidifying finned coils. This study analyzes the floor radiant cooling of a typical residential apartment within a multi-storey building in three Italian climate zones by means of a detailed simulation tool. Five systems were compared in terms of both indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption: radiant cooling without dehumidification; radiant cooling with a soft dehumidification device; radiant cooling with a dehumidification device which also supplies sensible cooling; radiant cooling coupled with fan coils; and radiant cooling with a mechanical ventilation system which dehumidifies and cools

Radiant cooling and dehumidification system coupling: comfort and energy analysis for residential buildings

The development of radiant cooling has stimulated the interest towards new system solutions based on coupling the ventilation strategy with radiant cooling. Radiant cooling system may cause condensation on the active surface under hot and humid conditions during the cooling season. This phenomenon occurs when surface temperature falls below dew point. To avoid condensation it is important to reduce air humidity with dehumidification device or mechanical ventilation system. In this regard, the possibilities are essentially two: on the one hand there are dehumidification devices that reduce humidity with no coupling to ventilation, i.e. the air inside the room is dehumidified and ventilation is left to simple system of infiltration; on the other hand mechanical ventilation system may have dehumidifying finned coils. In order to analyze the building-plant system of a typical residential dwelling in a multi-storey building, the simulation tool DIGITHON Multizone (developed by the University of Padova) has been used. This model is based on the resolution of the equations of balance in the room, by means of the transfer functions for solving the problem of unsteady state thermal conductivity through walls. Six different solutions in different climatic conditions have been analyzed: radiant cooling without dehumidification, radiant cooling with a soft dehumidification device, radiant cooling with a dehumidification device which supplies sensible cooling as well, radiant cooling with a mechanical ventilation system which provides dry and cool air and radiant cooling coupled with fan coil. The aim of this work is to compare different HVAC coupling solutions, in terms of indoor environmental comfort and energy savings, highlighting the importance of air handling with radiant cooling systems

Monitoraggio di uno scambiatore di calore aria \u2013 terreno in un edificio scolastico

Un esempio di sistema HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) integrato e innovativo \ue8 rappresentato dallo scambiatore aria-terreno, che offre un contributo sensibile per la riduzione dei consumi energetici destinati alla ventilazione. Il sistema, costituito da uno o pi\uf9 tubi interrati a circa 2 - 4 metri di profondit\ue0, viene utilizzato per preriscaldare (in inverno) o per preraffrescare (in estate) l\u2019aria di rinnovo immessa nell\u2019edificio. Il contributo energetico degli scambiatori aria-terreno dipende da diversi fattori, quali la lunghezza totale, la profondit\ue0 di installazione, le caratteristiche climatiche della zona e le propriet\ue0 del terreno. L\u2019edificio scelto per l\u2019analisi \ue8 la scuola dell\u2019infanzia \u2018Stroppari\u2019, situata a Tezze sul Brenta in provincia di Vicenza. La ricerca mira all\u2019analisi dell\u2019impianto attraverso la misura in situ delle prestazioni dello scambiatore di calore aria-terreno. Attraverso il sistema di monitoraggio sono stati registrati i parametri di temperatura ed umidit\ue0 relativa dell\u2019aria in diversi punti caratteristici dell\u2019impianto per la durata di un anno. Sono inoltre stati misurati i paramenti indoor quali la temperatura dell\u2019aria e l\u2019umidit\ue0 relativa nei punti rappresentativi della scuola. L\u2019obiettivo dell\u2019analisi \ue8 il calcolo del potenziale di riscaldamento e raffrescamento al fine di quantificare il risparmio energetico ottenuto tramite tale sistema, anche ai fini di un confronto con altre possibili configurazioni. Inoltre attraverso l\u2019analisi dei dati, saranno proposti gli interventi per l\u2019ottimizzazione del sistema, come ad esempio l\u2019aggiunta di un sistema di bypass da attivare in determinate condizioni climatiche

The design and environmental evaluation of earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHE). A literature review

There is a rising interest in heating and cooling systems based on renewable energy sources. Air heating or cooling with earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHE) is one approach for reducing ventilation heat losses and improving thermal comfort in buildings. A literature research was performed in order to analyze the design, characteristics of earth-to-air heat exchangers and whether they could be coupled with HVAC system coupling. A range of projects was compared in order to collect and summarize design suggestions

Radiant floor heating in historical churches: a case study in Bassano del Grappa

Churches are a cultural heritage that has to be protected considering the works of art, such as frescos, tables, monuments, decorations as well as the building structures. The damages of the building structures and the works of art are caused not only by the age and by the climate change but also by the installation of heating plant systems that are not running properly. Works of art are usually kept in unsuitable ambient conditions, since it is not easy to produce and maintain optimal microclimate conditions which may preserve them. Although these problems have been addressed in several studies, there are still several open questions on the suitability of radiant systems to maintain uniform conditions and on the working strategies for reducing energy consumptions, preserving the cultural heritage and achieve comfort conditions for occupants. This work reports the results of the indoor monitoring carried out in the S. Francesco Church placed in Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza). The monitoring activity was carried out in both short and long terms after the renovation works. The new heating system consists of a hydronic radiant floor. The indoor conditions have been analyzed looking at the air temperature and humidity. The air stratification problem was also investigated. Finally, based on energy consumptions and on indoor measurements a dynamic model developed by the authors has been tuned and used for checking different possible control strategies