A unified solving approach for two and three dimensional coverage problems in sensor networks

The problem of designing a wired or a wireless sensor network to cover, monitor and/or control a region of interest has been widely treated in literature. This problem is referred to in literature as the sensor placement problem (SPP) and in the most general case it consists in determining the number and the location of one or more kind of sensors with the aim of covering all the region of interest or a significant part of it. In this paper we propose a unified and stepwise solving approach for two and three dimensional coverage problems to be used in omni-directional and directional sensor networks. The proposed approach is based on schematizing the region of interest and the sensor potential locations by a grid of points and representing the sensor coverage area by a circle or by a circular sector. On this basis, the SPP is reduced to an optimal coverage problem and can be formulated by integer linear programming (ILP) models. We will resume the main ILP models used in our approach, highlighting, for each of them, the specific target to be achieved and the design constraints taken into account. The paper concludes with an application of the proposed approach to a real test case and a discussion of the obtained results

Institutions and facility mergers in the Italian education system: Models and case studies

In recent years, across Europe, the economic crisis has resulted in an increased pressure on education systems. Notably, Italy has been one of the countries that has experienced the most severe reduction in public expenditure in the education sector. In the described conditions, Italian governmental institutions have started to perform rationalisation actions, aimed at modifying the current configuration of the existing facilities offering educational services (either by entirely closing and merging some of them, or by downsizing or transferring capacities), in order to increase the affordability of the system while still providing a required minimum service level. These strategic choices may have a lasting impact; therefore, there is a need for appropriate decision support tools capable of assisting planners. For this reason, after a description of the context and a review of the current literature, this paper presents two novel mathematical models for addressing rationalisation decisions in the Italian education system. The usability of such models is tested by means of real-world case studies, offering interesting insights

A location model for the reorganization of a school system: the Italian case study.

This work analyses a problem concerning the reorganisation of the school system located in a given region. In particular, the problem has been tackled considering the requirements indicated for the Italian case related to the reorganisation of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools in integrated institutions managed in a centralised way. In order to solve the problem, two versions of a location model are proposed. The application to a real case study shows how the model can be used as a viable decision support system

Rediscovering the Wetlands of Berisso: an extension course within the framework of Environmental Education

Nuestro proyecto de extensión está destinado a niños de edad escolar, ya que son sujetos proactivos en la transmisión de la educación ambiental hacia el núcleo familiar y el contexto social. La ciudad de Berisso (Buenos Aires, Argentina) no sólo comprende paisajes urbanísticos y portuarios, si no también ambientes costeros y humedales, siendo estos últimos vulnerables a la actividad humana que contribuye a su progresivo deterioro. La metodología planteada es la interacción directa e intercambio de ideas con los actores sociales, abordando la problemática a partir de distintas actividades en los ámbitos donde visitamos (colegios, fiestas populares, jornadas). Los objetivos de los talleres son: fomentar actitud crítica, participativa y responsable frente a la problemática ambiental regional; concientizar sobre la necesidad de conservar la biodiversidad; fortalecer el vínculo entre universidad y sociedad. En cuanto al resultado general resaltamos la aceptación y concientización de la responsabilidad de la colectividad en su rol como copartícipes del ecosistema.Our extension project is intended for children of school age, because they are proactive subjects in the knowledge transfer of environmental education to their family and their social context. The city of Berisso, (Buenos Aires, Argentina) includes not only urbanistic and port areas, but also coastal and wetlands which are vulnerable to human activity that contributes to their progressive deterioration. The methodology proposed is the direct interaction and exchange of ideas with social actors, addressing the problem from different activities in the areas where we visit (schools, popular festivals, conferences). The objectives of the workshop are to encourage participative and responsible attitude towards the local environmental problems; to raise awareness about the need for preserving biodiversity; to strengthen the relationship between university and society. Regarding the general result, we highlight the acceptance and awareness of the responsibility of the community and its role as co-participants of the ecosystem.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

A decision support system to improve performances of airport check-in services

The recent remarkable increase in air passenger traffic has been fostering a considerable congestion of the airport facilities. In this context, traditional procedures employed for check-in operations have been supported by alternative methods, based on the use of self-service options (kiosks, web services, app for mobile phones, etc). However, even if such innovations are contributing to improve the service level provided to passengers, field investigations suggest that traditional procedures will be employed also in the future, especially for medium and long-haul flights, where baggage dropping is required. For this reason, the passengers allocation problem at check-in counters is attracting growing attention by the scientific community and several decision support tools, involving both optimization and simulation methods, have been proposed. Most of the available approaches aim at deciding the optimal number of check-in counters to be activated, in such a way to balance the operative costs and passengers waiting times. Such approaches assume that the service capacity (in terms of available check-in operators and counters) is given and determined on the basis of physical constraints (related to the available space in the terminal) and of staff scheduling decisions made at a tactical level. The present contribution tries to overcome this limitation, by proposing a decision support system, based on a mathematical model, capable of designing optimal check-in policies by also incorporating staff scheduling decisions. The model is tested on some real-world case studies; computational results are evaluated, along with the practical usability of the approach

Clinical Features, Cardiovascular Risk Profile, and Therapeutic Trajectories of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Candidate for Oral Semaglutide Therapy in the Italian Specialist Care

Introduction: This study aimed to address therapeutic inertia in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) by investigating the potential of early treatment with oral semaglutide. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2021 and April 2022 among specialists treating individuals with T2D. A scientific committee designed a data collection form covering demographics, cardiovascular risk, glucose control metrics, ongoing therapies, and physician judgments on treatment appropriateness. Participants completed anonymous patient questionnaires reflecting routine clinical encounters. The preferred therapeutic regimen for each patient was also identified. Results: The analysis was conducted on 4449 patients initiating oral semaglutide. The population had a relatively short disease duration (42%  60% of patients, and more often than sitagliptin or empagliflozin. Conclusion: The study supports the potential of early implementation of oral semaglutide as a strategy to overcome therapeutic inertia and enhance T2D management

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

The Gaia mission

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/gai

Mathematical Models to support territorial re-organization decisions in the public sector

Facility location decisions represent a critical element in strategic planning in both private and public sectors, as they can have a strong and lasting impact on operational and logistic performance. In the OR literature, the two classes of problems traditionally used to address decisions related to the territorial organization of services are: Facility Location and Districting Problems. Most of the proposed models in this field are aimed at positioning new facilities; however, some occurring circumstances could require strategies oriented to reduce costs by reorganizing existing systems, composed of facilities already located in the study region. To this aim, different strategies could be adopted, such as the closure of some active facilities, their repositioning in different points of the location space, the downsizing of the capacities of the available services and so on. Any reorganization action perturbs the interaction between the facilities and the demand, and could produce some effects on the users that should be carefully evaluated. Moreover, in this context, decisions may depend on various factors such as the nature of the service and the characteristics of the market (competitive or non-competitive), the objectives to be achieved and the constraints to be satisfied. In this work we analyze the problem of the spatial re-organization of an existing service and formulate some new mathematical models in order to support such decisions in the context of public services. Computational tests have been performed in order to evaluate the capability of the proposed models to be optimally solved within limited running times. Furthermore, two applications to real-world problems have been analyzed and solved. The obtained results show that the use of mathematical models can actually represent a suitable and reliable support for these kinds of problems