The 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party: What Next?

The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as widely expected and reported, confirmed Xi Jinping’s position as general secretary of the CCP for a normbreaking third term. But this is not the only reason why this Congress marks an historical change and has profound implications for both domestic and foreign policy

China in Italy: Risk Assessment and Preventive Solutions

Italy’s 2019 decision to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China in support of the Belt and Road Initiative sparked a heated debate at home and abroad. The possibility of Italy upgrading its trade and investment relations with China through the shortcut of a political endorsement of President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign-policy initiative was framed as either a heaven-sent opportunity or a serious strategic threat. Two years on, most of the concerns pointed out in the debate, especially regarding infrastructures, have proven unsubstantiated (although the economic opportunities for which the Italian Government wished have also failed to materialise). However, cooperation initiatives between Italian and Chinese entities in sectors often overlooked in the mainstream debate, such as media and academic partnerships, do present risks. The creation of an interagency China Information and Coordination Unit would help to prevent – or, at least, to minimise – such risks

Effects of calibration process on the simulation of rear-end conflicts at roundabouts

A methodology for calibrating and validating VISSIM simulation model is presented that allows to replicate the observed vehicles conflicts. A roundabout case study has been selected to test the usefulness of a combined approach of VISSIM simulation package and the surrogate safety assessment model (SSAM) for providing reliable estimates of traffic conflicts. Safety performance has been assessed from the field by video-recording vehicle interactions at the roundabout, and then expressed in terms of time to collision (TTC) values.The proposed calibration procedure has been performed by a multistage methodology involving microscopic drivers' car following behavior parameters to enhance the correlation between observed and simulated queue lengths at the roundabout's entries. The calibration procedure is based on a statistical screening of inputs leading to a linear expression relating significant parameters to the queue length. The best estimates of the model's parameters have been determined using a genetic algorithm technique.The spatial distribution of the rear-end conflicts and the TTC values determined by SSAM have been finally compared with the observed ones to analyze the capability of the model of replicating rear-end conflicts.The results suggest to this calibration procedure impacts positively on the estimate of the safety performance measures obtained through the simulation processes.Notwithstanding the good results in the evaluation of the model's accuracy, the simulation seems to fail in reproducing the traffic phenomena linked to unusual driving behavior, and therefore it is not able to replicate forced drivers' maneuvers that can lead to a conflict situation. Keywords: Simulation, Safety performance, Unmanned aerial vehicle, Roundabouts, Traffic conflict

Evaluating the accuracy of vehicle tracking data obtained from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract This paper presents a methodology for tracking moving vehicles that integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with video processing techniques. The authors investigated the usefulness of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to capture reliable individual vehicle data by using GPS technology as a benchmark. A video processing algorithm for vehicles trajectory acquisition is introduced. The algorithm is based on OpenCV libraries. In order to assess the accuracy of the proposed video processing algorithm an instrumented vehicle was equipped with a high precision GPS. The video capture experiments were performed in two case studies. From the field, about 24,000 positioning data were acquired for the analysis. The results of these experiments highlight the versatility of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles technology combined with video processing technique in monitoring real traffic data

China’s official narratives on Xinjiang : interethnic mingling, economic prosperity and religious terrorism

The northwest region of Xinjiang in the People’s Republic of China has drawn international attention recently because of state-perpetrated violence towards its non-Han population. This paper examines how Chinese authorities construct their narratives about the Xinjiang issue and justify their actions in the region. The analysis will focus on official white papers published by the State’s Council Information Office. Through the investigation of the documents, three main narratives on Xinjiang will be presented, together with the way in which they have developed over the past decades. Each will be then situated within the larger transformation of Chinese politics and political discourse in recent years, especially since General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping has taken office. Instead of considering Beijing’s narratives on Xinjiang as an exception, this essay maintains that their underlying paradigms comply with Chinese governmental strategy as a whole, although the repression in Xinjiang represents their extreme consequences

Assessment and prevention of radioactive risk due to 222Radon on university premises in Genoa, Italy

From October 2004 to September 2005, Radon222 activity inhigh-risk indoor spaces used by employees and students at theUniversity of Genoa was measured with CR-39 nuclear trackdetectors. The mean concentration in winter (78.9 Bq/m3 ± 74.92 S.D.) was low in relation to the microenvironment considered. When data were broken down by type and location ofthe spaces, no significant differences were found, despite thefact that the Genoa conurbation lies on soil of variable geological composition. The dose absorbed by employees was 0.42 mSv/year, with a relative risk of 4.2/1000 cases of Radonrelated lung cancer. The dose absorbed by students was 0.28mSv/year, with a relative risk of 2.5/1000 cases of Radonrelated lung cancer. The level of radon activity detected neverexceeded the limit of 500 Bq/m3 established by Italian law.Nevertheless, the value of the compound uncertainty indexsuggested that the real level of Radon contamination couldhave exceeded 400 Bq/m3 in selected spaces, a value requiring annual concentration tests