Compact 3-D-Printed Circularly Polarized Antenna for Handheld UHF RFID Readers

In this letter, the aptness of the combination of three-dimensional (3-D) printing and radio frequency identification (RFID) is faced by presenting a compact, low-profile, and cost-effective circularly polarized antenna for handheld UHF RFID reader. The radiating element has been realized through a circular array of four inverted-F monopoles, where the array elements are excited with a 90° phase offset through a microstrip feeding network, realized in 3-D printing technology as well. Taking advantage from low losses and moldability of the 3-D printing materials joint to a specific design strategy, the proposed antenna realizes an improved gain and an appreciable size reduction if compared with the state of the art

Rail Potential Calculation: Impact of the Chosen Model on the Safety Analysis

In Traction Electrification Systems (TESs), a current flows into the rails both in normal operation and fault conditions. Therefore, in both cases, a voltage between rails and earth, called Rail Potential (RP), occurs. The international Standard EN 50122-1 requires to evaluate the RP on the basis of the voltage drop in the return circuit. In this work, this approach is named Voltage Drop Method (VDM). Usually, in this approach, the rails are considered isolated from ground, the type of interconnection between the negative pole of the converter and the grounding system of the TPS is not taken into account, and the RP in a generic point of the railway is computed multiplying the current flowing in the return path and the longitudinal resistance of the rails up to the Traction Power Substation (TPS). If the RP exceeds the maximum permissible effective touch voltages, function of time, indicated by EN 50122-1, provisions to reduce the electrocution risk shall be applied. Even if the VDM generally provides conservative values for the RP, it cannot be considered completely faithful, due to the simplifying assumptions usually adopted. Therefore, the decision process to evaluate if some measures to reduce the RP shall be adopted can lead to wrong results. In this work, a faithful circuital model of the railways was used to compute the RP for several scenarios; a comparison with the results computed by VDM was carried out. The goal is to evaluate the trustworthiness of the VDM, highlighting the differences with a more faithful model

Investigating the function of Fal1/eIF4AIII in S. pombe

The Exon Junction Complex (EJC) is a protein complex formed by a core of three proteins, eIF4AIII, MAGO, Y14, which is cotranscriptionally deposited on spliced mRNAs in mammalian cells, typically 24 nucleotides before the exon-exon boundaries. EJC deposition is believed to occur in evolutionarily divergent organisms, possibly all those that express the three core proteins. However, recent observations suggest that EJC factors are also associated with mRNAs derived from intron-less genes. My PhD project aimed to clarify whether the EJC components are recruited on mRNAs independently of splicing in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The data I have gathered indicate that Fal1, the ortholog of eIF4AIII in S. pombe, is associated with Pol II transcribed genes independently of the presence of an intron. To investigate whether Fal1 has a direct role in transcription or pre-mRNA processing, I engineered an Auxin-Inducible Degron (AID) system to rapidly deplete Fal1. However, I found that the application of the system causes a decrease in the Fal1 protein levels even in the absence of auxin, accompanied by severe growth defects. Therefore, I have discussed the limiting factors which might prevent the use of the AID system in S. pombe. I have also investigated whether an EJC is formed in fission yeast. My data suggest that a mammalian-like EJC might not be formed in S. pombe, and that Fal1 can exist independently of MAGO and Y14, even though these two proteins are likely to form a heterodimer also in this organism, which in mammalian cells is sufficient to stabilize the association of eIF4AIII with splice junctions

Ephemeral Museums in Pandemic Era: Bari and the Museo Provinciale that Was There, that Has Been and Has Never Been

Abstract The proposal introduces the theme of the communicative resilience of exhibitions during the Pandemic Era. On March 7, 2020, Italy and its museums, as well as the countless exhibitions housed in their rooms, were closed leaving hundreds, perhaps thousands, of works without the public: from the paintings of Raphael (Rome, Scuderie del Quirinale), to the tables of the Griffoni Polyptych assembled after three hundred years (Bologna, Palazzo Fava), to the statues of Canova (Rome, Palazzo Braschi), to the Sant'Antonio by Antonio Vivarini and to the San Felice in the chair by Lorenzo Lotto chased by Bernard Berenson in his Apulian 'pilgrimages' (Bari, Palazzo Ateneo). Indeed, the latter is the exhibition to which particular attention is paid here. The spaces of the ancient Museum have come back to life with the exhibition "Il Museo che non c'è. Arte, collezionismo, gusto antiquario nel Palazzo degli Studi di Bari 1875-1928". The exhibition involved lenders institutions such as Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, the Central State Archive in Rome, the Pinacoteca of Bari 'Corrado Giaquinto' and several others. The exhibition in Bari was inaugurated on February 28th. After the first five days only the exhibition was closed for the advance of COVID 19 virus. In the 'great hall' - as the main space of the ancient Provincial Museum was called - everything remained suspended and perfectly finished: showcases, exhibitors, paintings, statues, clay and stone art objects. However, there was no longer the possibility of letting people, visitors enter. We said that it would have been wonderful to be said that it would have been wonderful to be able to reopen it at least 'virtually'. And so we did, with an immersive and advanced teaching perspective

Effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation on repetitive finger movements in healthy humans

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a noninvasive neurophysiological technique that can entrain brain oscillations. Only few studies have investigated the effects of tACS on voluntary movements. We aimed to verify whether tACS, delivered over M1 at beta and gamma frequencies, has any effect on repetitive finger tapping as assessed by means of kinematic analysis. Eighteen healthy subjects were enrolled. Objective measurements of repetitive finger tapping were obtained by using a motion analysis system. M1 excitability was assessed by using single-pulse TMS and measuring the amplitude of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs). Movement kinematic measures and MEPs were collected during beta, gamma, and sham tACS and when the stimulation was off. Beta tACS led to an amplitude decrement (i.e., progressive reduction in amplitude) across the first ten movements of the motor sequence while gamma tACS had the opposite effect. The results did not reveal any significant effect of tACS on other movement parameters, nor any changes in MEPs. These findings demonstrate that tACS modulates finger tapping in a frequency-dependent manner with no concurrent changes in corticospinal excitability. The results suggest that cortical beta and gamma oscillations are involved in the motor control of repetitive finger movements

Stark Effect in Perovskite/TiO2Solar Cells: Evidence of Local Interfacial Order

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Prediction of Power Outages in Distribution Network with Grey Theory

Annual power outages in distribution network are highly related to the reliability of the power grid and directly affect the customers' satisfaction. The severe weather conditions, increasing loads as well as aging equipment are all potential threatens to the electrical grid infrastructure. A good prediction of the number of outages is essential for the maintenance planning and cost benefit analysis of investment. In order to predict the out-of-service cases in the power grid, the GM (1,1) (first-order Grey Modelling) forecasting method is introduced in this paper. To improve the accuracy of the prediction, the PSO (particle swarm optimization) algorithm is applied for the parameter optimization in the modeling. The number of outages in the next two years of a medium-voltage urban distribution network are predicted based on the records in the past 7 years. The good performance of the simulation results verifies the proposed forecasting method