IMPROVED RECEIVER FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

An iterative receiver is proposed for receiving in a cell a signal (A) and for providing information carried on said signal (A) by the execution of at least one processing iteration. The receiver comprises: an estimate assembly for receiving the signal (A) and providing, at each one of said processing iterations, a respective information estimate ; a regeneration assembly for receiving, at each processing iteration, said information estimate provided by the estimate assembly at that iteration, and for providing a regenerated signal (B) therefore based on said information estimate and on attenuation of radio channels over which the signal (A) has been transmitted; an interference estimate unit for providing, at each iteration, an interference estimate (C) based on the signal (A) and the regenerated signal (B), the estimate assembly providing, starting from a second processing iteration of said processing iterations, said information estimate based on said interference estimate; and an extraction unit for extracting said information from said information estimate

Simulation and Complexity Analysis of Iterative Interference Cancellation Receivers for LTE/LTE-Advanced

The paper details the simulation of a single user MIMO receiver operating according to the 3GPP/LTE standard applying a Parallel or Successive Interference Cancellation (PIC/SIC) strategy to a multicarrier (OFDMA/SC-FDMA) scheme. The algorithm details are analyzed and the PIC and SIC cancellation strategies are simulated and compared on random MIMO selective fading channels, considering limited complexities. The best PIC and SIC schemes for a given limited complexity (8 turbo decoding iterations per codeword) are compared for different codeblock lengths and spatial correlation scenarios over an EPA channel model. The 2 cycles SIC scheme shows the best performance over the selected scenarios, offering gains over the non-iterative schemes (measured at BLER values of 0.1) ranging from 1 to 4 dB in the considered cases. Larger gains are obtained with higher spatial correlation and shorter codeblock lengths. Better overall performance are obtained with lower spatial correlation and longer codeblock lengths

Effects of Carasau Dough Composition on the Microwave Dielectric Spectra up to 20 GHz

Carasau bread is a traditional product from Sardinia (IT). This flat bread is experiencing industrial advancement, through automation, and has great market potential. However, there is lack of understanding of how the composition (water content, salt and yeast concentration) affects the product quality. In this work, a microwave dielectric spectroscopy study is performed to investigate how the composition of Carasau bread doughs influences the spectra of this food product up to 20 GHz. A third-order Cole-Cole model was used for the physical and quantitative understanding of the electromagnetic properties of this food product. Then, we it has been studied how salt, yeast, and water variations affected the model parameters. This work could pave the route to the development of non-destructive, contactless microwave sensors for Carasau bread quality assessment

An elevated body mass index increases lung volume but reduces airflow in italian schoolchildren

Asthma and obesity are important and growing health issues worldwide. Obesity is considered a risk factor for asthma, due to the induction of changes in airway mechanics and altered airway inflammation

Analysis of a Flexible Dual-Channel Octagonal Coil System for UHF MRI

Nowadays, MRI is focused on using ultra-high static magnetic fields (> 7 T) to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. The use of high fields, on the other hand, requires novel technical solutions as well as more stringent design criteria for specific absorption rate levels, reducing radiative effect and coil resistance. In this paper, two flexible RF coils for 7 T human magnetic resonance, and 298 MHz ultra-high frequency operations were analyzed and characterized. Imaging of lower human limbs is regarded as a case study. The lumped element theory and subsequent numerical simulations were used to fine-tune the single-coil element and the dual-coil array design, respectively. Here, we demonstrate how the shape, size, configuration, and presence of the sample influence the coil performance. The penetration depth of the B 1 -field and the specific absorption rate values have been determined numerically using two numerical surface phantoms: saline and a multilayer human tissue. A preliminary study in the presence of a saline solution phantom has been carried out to develop and validate the dual-coil system. The frequency response of the dual-coil array was measured to assess its robustness when coupled to twelve human volunteers. We found that our design is robust to variations in the anatomical properties of the human thighs, and hence to coil bending. The presented approach can be useful for the implementation of flexible devices with high sensitivity levels and low specific absorption rat

Family Planning

The contraception (the term is the fusion between “contra”, against, and conception): includes all methods that prevent conception. According to the physiology of human reproduction, the contraceptive methods can prevent the fecundation by hindering the female and male gametes meeting. In these mechanisms we include: The abstinence by sexual intercourse around the ovulatory phase of the cycle; The use of barriers that block contact between male gametes and female genitalia; The use of methods impeding the ascent of spermatozoa through the female genital tracts (intrauterine devices). The prevention of the oocyte from being available (hormonal contraceptives or oral contraceptives, OC). In this category there is the availability of short acting reversible contraception (SARC) (pill, vaginal ring, patch), and the long acting reversible contraception (LARC) (progestin implants). The ideal contraceptive method has to respond to four fundamental principles: efficacy, safety, reversibility, tolerability. The authors will discuss all the above contraceptive methods with the evaluation of indications and contraindications to each method

Haplotype affinities resolve a major component of goat (<i>Capra hircus</i>) MtDNA D-loop diversity and reveal specific features of the Sardinian stock

Goat mtDNA haplogroup A is a poorly resolved lineage absorbing most of the overall diversity and is found in locations as distant as Eastern Asia and Southern Africa. Its phylogenetic dissection would cast light on an important portion of the spread of goat breeding. The aims of this work were 1) to provide an operational definition of meaningful mtDNA units within haplogroup A, 2) to investigate the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of diversity by considering the modes of selection operated by breeders and 3) to identify the peculiarities of Sardinian mtDNA types. We sequenced the mtDNA D-loop in a large sample of animals (1,591) which represents a non-trivial quota of the entire goat population of Sardinia. We found that Sardinia mirrors a large quota of mtDNA diversity of Western Eurasia in the number of variable sites, their mutational pattern and allele frequency. By using Bayesian analysis, a distance-based tree and a network analysis, we recognized demographically coherent groups of sequences identified by particular subsets of the variable positions. The results showed that this assignment system could be reproduced in other studies, capturing the greatest part of haplotype diversity. We identified haplotype groups overrepresented in Sardinian goats as a result of founder effects. We found that breeders maintain diversity of matrilines most likely through equalization of the reproductive potential. Moreover, the relevant amount of inter-farm mtDNA diversity found does not increase proportionally with distance. Our results illustrate the effects of breeding practices on the composition of maternal gene pool and identify mtDNA types that may be considered in projects aimed at retrieving the maternal component of the oldest breeds of Sardinia.</br

Silicon photonics-based laser Doppler vibrometer array for carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a reference measure for aortic stiffness, itself an important biomarker of cardiovascular risk. To enable low-cost and easy-to-use PWV measurement devices that can be used in routine clinical practice, we have designed several handheld PWV sensors using miniaturized laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) arrays in a silicon photonics platform. The LDV-based PWV sensor design and the signal processing protocol to obtain pulse transit time (PTT) and carotid-femoral PWV in a feasibility study in humans, are described in this paper. Compared with a commercial reference PWV measurement system, measuring arterial pressure waveforms by applanation tonometry, LDV-based displacement signals resulted in more complex signals. However, we have shown that it is possible to identify reliable fiducial points for PTT calculation using the maximum of the 2nd derivative algorithm in LDV-based signals, comparable to those obtained by the reference technique, applanation tonometry. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreemen

WSN Hardware for Automotive Applications: Preliminary Results for the Case of Public Transportation

The ubiquitous nature and great potential ofWireless Sensors Network has not yet been fully exploited in automotive applications. This work deals with the choice of the cost-effective hardware required to face the challenges and issues proposed by the new trend in the development of intelligent transportation systems. With this aim, a preliminary WSN architecture is proposed. Several commercially available open-source platforms are compared and the Raspberry Pi stood out as a suitable and viable solution. The sensing layer is designed with two goals. Firstly, accelerometric, temperature and relative humidity sensors were integrated on a dedicated PCB to test if mechanical or environmental stresses during bus rides could be harmful to the device. The monitored physical quantities could be used to improve the quality of service. Then, the rationale and functioning of the management and service layer is presented. The proposed cost-effective WSN node is employed and tested to transmit messages and videos

Hospital discharge planning and continuity of care for aged people in an Italian local health unit: does the care-home model reduce hospital readmission and mortality rates?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hospital discharge planning is aimed to decrease length of stay in hospitals as well as to ensure continuity of health care after being discharged. Hospitalized patients in Turin, Italy, who are in need of medical, social and rehabilitative care are proposed as candidates to either discharge planning relying on a care-home model (DPCH) for a period of about 30 days, or routine discharge care. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a hospital DPCH that was compared with routine care, improved patients' outcomes in terms of reduced hospital readmission and mortality rates in patients aged 64 years and older.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a retrospective observational cohort study a sample of 380 subjects aged 64 years and over was examined. Participants were discharged from the hospital S.Giovanni Bosco in Turin, Italy from March 1^st, 2005 to February 28^th, 2006. Of these subjects, 107 received routine discharge care while 273 patients were referred to care-home (among them, 99 received a long-term care intervention (LTCI) afterwards while 174 did not). Data was gathered from various administrative and electronic databases. Cox regression models were used to evaluate factors associated with mortality and hospital readmission.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When socio-demographic factors, underlying disease and disability were taken into account, DPCH decreased mortality rates only if it was followed by a LTCI: compared to routine care, the Hazard Ratio (HR) of death was 0.36 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.20 – 0.66) and 1.15 (95%CI: 0.77 – 1.74) for DPCH followed by LTCI and DPCH not followed by LTCI, respectively. On the other hand, readmission rates did not significantly differ among DPCH and routine care, irrespective of the implementation of a LTCI: HRs of hospital readmission were 1.01 (95%CI: 0.48 – 2.24) and 1.18 (95%CI: 0.71 – 1.96), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of DPCH after hospital discharge reduced mortality rates, but only when it was followed by a long-term health care plan, thus ensuring continuity of care for elderly participants.</p