A review of plastic waste circular actions in seven developing countries to achieve sustainable development goals.

Plastic waste circularity is a priority at a global level. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) set the ways to go, and the circular economy principles underlined the 'green' strategies to be employed. However, in practice, there is still much to do, especially in developing countries, where open burning and open dumping still represent the common way of plastic waste disposal. This review aims to analyse current plastic waste circular approaches in low-middle income settings. Seven countries were selected based on the economic level and data availability from the authors, and analysed to collect and critically discuss the actions implemented at a city level. Examples of waste minimization and recycling strategies, selective collection systems and public campaigns are reported from Africa, Asia and Latin America. First, a background analysis related to physical and governance aspects of municipal solid waste management systems of the chosen settings was conducted. The assessment was focused on the treatment processes or minimization actions. Then, the applicability of the projects to achieve the SDGs was commented on. The outcomes of the research underline the need to: (1) scale up small-scale and pilot projects, (2) disseminate good practices in more low- to middle-income settings, (3) create synergies among international partners for further replications in cities. Urgent solutions to plastic waste pollution are needed. The review presented practical actions to be implemented now to boost plastic waste circularity in developing cities.

A preliminary simulation study about the impact of COVID-19 crisis on energy demand of a building mix at a district in Sweden.

The COVID-19 outbreak is exacerbating uncertainty in energy demand. This paper aims to investigate the impact of the confined measures due to COVID-19 outbreak on energy demand of a building mix in a district. Three levels of confinement for occupant schedules are proposed based on a new district design in Sweden. The Urban Modeling Interface tool is applied to simulate the energy performance of the building mix. The boundary conditions and input parameters are set up according to the Swedish building standards and statistics. The district is at early-design stage, which includes a mix of building functions, i.e. residential buildings, offices, schools and retail shops. By comparing with the base case (normal life without confinement measures), the average delivered electricity demand of the entire district increases in a range of 14.3% to 18.7% under the three confinement scenarios. However, the mean system energy demands (sum of heating, cooling, and domestic hot water) decreases in a range of 7.1% to 12.0%. These two variation nearly cancel each other out, leaving the total energy demand almost unaffected. The result also shows that the delivered electricity demands in all cases have a relatively smooth variation across a year, while the system energy demands follow the principle trends for all the cases, which have peak demands in winter and much lower demands in transit seasons and summer. This study represents a first step in the understanding of the energy performance for community buildings when they confront with this kind of shock.

Low perceived social support is associated with CD8+CD57+ lymphocyte expansion and increased TNF-α levels.

Social support has been supposed to have a positive impact on the function of the immune system. However, the relationship between perceived social support and immune function has not yet been fully investigated. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the link between perceived social support and lymphocyte subpopulations and cytokines. 232 healthy subjects provided a blood sample and completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) questionnaire. Lymphocyte immunophenotypes and cytokines were determined. Significantly increased CD8+CD57+ lymphocytes and TNF-α levels were found in group with low perceived social support. Multivariate linear regression corrected for possible confounders confirmed a significant role of perceived social support in predicting the number of CD8+CD57+ lymphocyte and TNF-α levels. This study supports the association between perceived social support and immune function. In particular, poor social support may be related to a state of chronic inflammation sustained by CD8+CD57+ lymphocyte expansion and increased TNF-α levels.

Rotating-shift nurses after a day off: peripheral clock gene expression, urinary melatonin, and serum 17-ß-estradiol levels.

OBJECTIVE: Impairment of clock gene expression and changes in melatonin and 17-ß-estradiol levels may constitute biological alterations underlying the increased risk of breast cancer among shift workers. The aim of this study was to compare levels of selected core clock gene expression, 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), and 17-ß-estradiol between rotational shift work (SW) and daytime (DT) workers after a day off. METHODS: The cross-sectional study comprised 60 nurses with ≥2 years of SW and 56 permanent DT nurses. Transcript levels of circadian genes BMAL1, CLOCK, NPAS2, CRY1, CRY2, PER1, PER2, PER3, and REVERBα were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in lymphocytes. All participants were tested in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Samples were collected at the beginning of the morning-shift after a regular night's sleep on a day off. Chronotype and sociodemographic characteristics were also evaluated. RESULTS: We found a significantly higher expression of BMAL1, CLOCK, NPAS2, PER1, PER2, and REVERBα and a lower expression of PER3, CRY1 and CRY2 among SW compared to DT nurses. SW participants did not demonstrate a significant difference in aMT6s levels, but they did show significantly higher 17-ß-estradiol levels compared to DT nurses. Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed the role of SW on expression of BMAL1 (ß 0.21, P=0.040), CLOCK (ß 0.35, P=0.008), NPAS2 (ß 0.30, P=0.012), PER1 (ß 0.33, P=0.008), PER2 (ß 0.19, P=0.047), PER3 (ß -0.27, P=0.012), CRY1 (ß -0.33, P=0.002), CRY2 (ß -0.31, P=0.005), REVERBα (ß 0.19, P=0.045), and on 17-ß-estradiol levels (ß 0.32, P=0.003). The analysis also confirmed the role of chronotype as an independent factor for PER1 (ß 0.48, P=0.001) and PER2 (ß -0.22, P=0.022) expression, and 17-ß-estradiol levels (ß 0.26, P=0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Rotating SW nurses show alterations in peripheral clock gene expression and 17-ß-estradiol levels at the beginning of the morning shift after a day off.

[An epidemic strain of Acinetobacter baumannii in two long-term care facilities]. / Evento epidemico da Acinetobacter baumannii in pazienti lungodegenti.

This study describes an epidemic strain of Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) in two long-term care facilities. Assessment was focused on the spreading modalities of AB infection, the risk of acquiring the infection from colonized patients, the multidrug-resistant features, the clinical characteristics of affected patients, and the average length of hospital stay prior to and after AB infection. The effects of AB spreading among the healthcare operators and the environment are also evaluated, along with a description of the clinical course and outcome, and the efficacy of implemented preventive measures. AB is an opportunistic pathogen with increasing relevance in a variety of nosocomial infections.

[Biological risk and health care workers: analysis of the effects of work chronobiology on the immune system]. / Rischio biologico ed operatori sanitari: analisi dell'interferenza tra cronobiologia lavorativa e sistema immunitario.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers may be exposed to a variety of biological hazards. Although many studies have shown that some immunological alterations were related to work stress and sleep disorders, few studies investigated effects of shiftwork on the immunological system. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare the immune status of a group of nurses on shiftwork with that of nurses working only day shifts. METHODS: A total of 138 nurses were evaluated at baseline and after a year of follow-up, via tests for perceived stress, daytime sleepiness, number of lymphocytes and subpopulation of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+-CD57+, CD19+ and CD56+, cytotoxic activity and lympho-prolferative response of NK cells, serum concentrations of IL-1beta, IL-6, INFgamma and TNFalpha. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: No significant alterations of any of the studied parameters were found both at baseline and after a year of follow-up. The biological hazards for nurses do not seem to be increased by shiftwork.