The effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the mass market retailing of wine in Italy

The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed framework of wine purchases in supermarkets during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unexpected diffusion of the virus and the restrictions imposed in Italy to prevent its spread have significantly affected the food purchasing habits of consumers. By analyzing the scanner data of the wine sales in the Italian mass market retail channel, this study was intended to show whether and how the dynamics triggered by the pandemic have modified the overall value and type of wine purchases, focusing on prices, formats, and promotional sales. In particular, this study explores sales in two separate periods, namely March–April (the “lockdown”, with general compulsory closing and severe restrictions) and June–July 2020 (the “post-lockdown”, in which some limitations were no longer effective). The analysis of wine sales during lockdown and post-lockdown and the study of the variations compared to the sales of the previous years showed some significant changes in purchase behavior. The results could provide managers, researchers, and policy makers with extensive insights into the purchasing patterns of consumers during this unprecedented time and reveal trends that may characterize the structure of the future wine demand

Common-mode resonances in ultra wide band connected arrays of dipoles : measurements from the demonstrator and exit strategy

A 6-9 GHz prototype array of dual-polarized connected dipoles has been manufactured. The array is composed by two orthogonal sets of 8×8 elements for each polarization (128), arranged in an egg-crate configuration. Preliminary measurements highlighted the presence of unpredicted common-mode resonances excited in the vertical feeding lines. An analysis of the common-mode excitation is carried out and exit strategies for a design of a resonance-free connected array are presented. © 2009 IEEE

Individualised and health-related quality of life of persons with spinal cord injury

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Leaky-wave slot array antenna fed by a dual reflector system

This work proposes a leaky-wave slot array antenna fed by a dual offset Gregorian reflector system realized by pins in a parallel plate waveguide. The radiating part of the antenna is composed by parallel slots etched on one side of the same parallel plate waveguide. The dual offset Gregorian reflector system is fed by an arrangement constituted by two vias and a grid, also constituted by pins. A prototype of the antenna has been designed, manufactured and successfully tested. The low profile, low cost and high efficiency of the antenna render it suited for a variety of radar or telecom applications

Problem-matched basis functions for microstrip coupled slot antennas based on Transmission Line Green's Functions (TLGF)

Problem matched basis functions are proposed for the method of moments analysis of printed slot coupled microstrips. The appropriate equivalent currents of the integral equation kernel are represented in terms of two sets of entire domain basis functions. These functions synthesize on one hand the resonant behavior of slots, microstrips or dipoles and on the other hand the field in proximity of the feeding source and of the discontinuities. In order to define these basis functions, canonical geometries are identified, whose Green's functions have been found in semi-analytical form. The accuracy and the effectiveness of the method in terms of convergence rate and number of unknowns is demonstrated by comparison with a standard fine meshing full-wave analysis. The method is extremely convenient for large arrays, where the subwavelength details should be treated together with large global dimensions. Since the proposed solution is independent of the dimensions of these details, it provides dramatic reduction of the number of unknowns and improvement of condition number

EBG enhanced feeds for the improvement of the aperture efficiency of reflector antennas

We describe the use of electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) super-layers to improve the shape of reflectors illumination function. Following an investigation of the leaky wave pole singularities of the EBG Green's function, the shape of the radiation patterns of small apertures in ground planes are optimized. The maximization of the reflector aperture efficiency can be obtained by properly tuning the super layers geometrical parameters. A prototype of such feed has been designed, manufactured and tested. The results indicate that the inclusion of the EBG, increases the aperture efficiency of the feed+reflector system to values higher than 80%, over a 10% bandwidth. These low profile feeds are compatible with printed circuit board and/or integrated technology

Properties of leaky waves supported by grounded dielectric super-layers and implications on the design of reflector feeds

The design strategy that uses dielectric super-layers with neighboring wave-guides closed in matched loads constitutes a worst case scenario as far as the performance enhancement is concerned and finds applicability in radiometric imaging arrays. On the other side the design strategy that uses dielectric super-layers with neighboring wave-guides closed in properly tuned reactive loads can be seen as best case scenario representative of a multi beam system for a telecommunication satellite with independent channels