Driving Information in a Transition to a Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Environment: Impacts on Pollutants, Noise and Safety

n/

DALL'IMMAGINE ALLA PAROLA. LA FOTOGRAFIA COME MEDIAZIONE DEL PENSIERO IN GRUPPI DI OPERATORI DI COMUNIT\uc0

Gli operatori delle comunit\ue0 per minori possono andare incontro, nel gestire il continuo contatto con situazioni di rischio e sofferenza ad una sorta di contagio emotivo in cui le emozioni dei piccoli utenti si radicano nell\u2019operatore e diventano elemento di disagio e fattore traumatico, portatore di rischio per il proprio S\ue9 e per i compiti di cura e protezione che si \ue8 chiamati a svolgere (Barberis,2001; Di Vita et al., 2009; Foti, 2003). La violenza delle emozioni in gioco, le dinamiche che investono l\u2019equipe e la natura degli interventi creano elementi di criticit\ue0 nei professionisti e nell\u2019intera equipe (poich\ue9 il lavoro dell\u2019operatore \ue8 di gruppo e per il gruppo), che richiedono particolare attenzione, e permettono di maturare l\u2019idea, spesso sottovalutata dalle organizzazioni sociali, dell\u2019importanza di \u201cprendersi cura dei curanti\u201d (Lama A., 2009). Si rivela dunque necessario riflettere su bisogni, vissuti, ed idee dei curanti/operatori di comunit\ue0, indagare emozioni e stati d\u2019animo sollecitati dalle relazioni quotidiane con minori vittime di abuso e/o maltrattamento, nonch\ue9 approfondire l\u2019area delle strategie messe in atto, dai singoli e nella rete, per gestire tali vissuti. A partire da queste premesse il progetto di ricerca qui presentato persegue la finalit\ue0 di \u201cdar voce\u201d agli operatori e, a partire dai loro racconti, approfondire l\u2019area delle emozioni nel contesto lavorativo delle comunit\ue0 per minori. Vista la caratterizzazione gruppale delle equipe di lavoro in comunit\ue0, si \ue8 pensato di strutturare delle situazioni di ascolto in cui gli operatori potessero esprimere, in un contesto di gruppo, proprio i vissuti e l\u2019\u201cimpatto emotivo\u201d suscitati in loro dal lavoro con i minori vittima di abuso. La consapevolezza delle difficolt\ue0 riscontrabili quando si affrontano temi \u201cforti\u201d come le emozioni, ha portato a scegliere, come ausilio al percorso di gruppo, la tecnica del Photolangage, che, seppur non utilizzata nella sua originaria connotazione terapeutica, ha consentito di \u201cfacilitare\u201d gli scambi all\u2019interno dei gruppi, amplificandone i risultati. Il Photolangage si basa sull\u2019utilizzo, in gruppo, della mediazione dell\u2019immagine fotografica, che consente, a partire dalla consegna, e tramite la formulazione di una domanda, di esporre contenuti mentali difficilmente raggiungibili con il solo mezzo verbale (Vacheret et al. 2002). In questo tipo di gruppi, la sinergia tra le caratteristiche del gruppo e quelle dell\u2019oggetto mediatore (Vacheret, Joubert, 2008), che si rinforzano a vicenda in una congiunzione di processi, permette di migliorare il lavoro di gruppo e pu\uf2 essere particolarmente utile con un pubblico poco abituato al contatto ed alla riflessione sulle emozioni in quanto consente l\u2019accesso a differenti forme di pensiero poco accessibili al soggetto singolo. I partecipanti alla ricerca sono gli operatori di 6 comunit\ue0 residenziali per minori del territorio di Palermo, che hanno volontariamente aderito alla richiesta di collaborazione alla ricerca. In totale si tratta di 37 operatori, 4 maschi e 33 femmine, di et\ue0 compresa tra i 24 ed i 54 anni (M=33,72). Le equipe di cui fanno parte questi operatori sono composte in media da 10 persone ripartite tra i diversi ruoli (responsabili, psicologi, educatori, ausiliari). In tutte le comunit\ue0 sono state affrontate situazioni legate a casi di abuso o sospetto abuso, con una variabilit\ue0 tra i 2 ed i 9 casi negli ultimi due anni. Ai partecipanti alla ricerca \ue8 stato chiesto di compilare una breve scheda di raccolta dati sulla comunit\ue0 ed il proprio ruolo professionale, e di partecipare ad un incontro di Photolangage della durata di un\u2019ora e mezza, gli incontri di gruppo erano condotti da uno psicologo clinico formato all\u2019utilizzo della tecnica Photolangage ed alla presenza di due osservatori che, come previsto dal metodo, hanno preso parte attivamente agli scambi in gruppo. Gli incontri sono stati audio registrati e, successivamente, trascritti integralmente. I materiali ottenuti tramite gli incontri di gruppo sono stati analizzati sia in relazione alla scelta delle singole fotografie e delle immagini che ad esse si associavano con maggiore frequenza, sia rispetto ai contenuti emersi durante gli scambi in gruppo, che sono stati sottoposti ad analisi tematica. L\u2019uso del Photolangage si \ue8 rivelato essere uno strumento utile per stimolare il dialogo tra persone troppo spesso chiuse nel silenzio delle proprie attivit\ue0 quotidiane, fornendo tuttavia un contenimento rispetto alle emozioni emerse nei percorsi di gruppo. I trascritti degli incontri di gruppo sono infatti stati analizzati da due ricercatori (prima in maniera indipendente e poi in accordo) per isolare nel testo le unit\ue0 pi\uf9 rilevanti di significato (nuclei tematici) e raccoglierle in categorie tematiche pi\uf9 ampie (macro-categorie). Questa analisi ha permesso di isolare 4 macro categorie, relative alle \u201crisposte emotive\u201d, alle \u201cdifficolt\ue0 ad affrontare le emozioni suscitare dall\u2019abuso\u201d ai \u201crapporti con la rete\u201d ed alle \u201cstrategie di lavoro\u201d per come esse emergono dalle rappresentazioni degli operatori e di evidenziare gli scarti tra dimensioni reali ed aspetti emotivi e simbolici che emergono grazie all\u2019uso della fotografia in gruppo. I livelli di conoscenza cui \ue8 possibile accedere tramite questo tipo di analisi sono diversi, i primi, di carattere descrittivo e semantico ci consentono di isolare temi ed argomenti, seguono livelli di analisi pi\uf9 simbolici che ci hanno permesso di passare dalla narrazione all\u2019emozione (ed in alcuni casi all\u2019azione) che questa richiama, ponendoci una serie di quesiti circa la sofferenza degli operatori e del supporto/ostacolo fornito dalle reti istituzionali/organizzative entro cui le comunit\ue0 sono inserite (Emiliani, Bastianoni, 1991; Giannone, 2005; Bastianoni, Taurino, 2009)

on the use of arima models for short term water tank levels forecasting

Abstract In this paper a statistical study on the time series of water levels measured, during 2014, in the water tank of Cesine, Avellino (Italy), is presented. In particular, the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) forecasting methodology is applied to model and forecast the daily water levels. This technique combines the autoregression and the moving average approaches, with the possibility to differentiate the data, to make the series stationary. In order to better describe the trend, over time, of the water levels in the reservoir, three ARIMA models are calibrated, validated and compared: ARIMA (2,0,2), ARIMA (3,1,3), ARIMA (6,1,6). After a preliminary statistical characterization of the series, the models' parameters are calibrated on the data related to the first 11 months of 2014, in order to keep the last month of data for validating the results. For each model, a graphical comparison with the observed data is presented, together with the calculation of the summary statistics of the residuals and of some error metrics. The results are discussed and some further possible applications are highlighted in the conclusions

Driving Information in a Transition to a Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Environment: Impacts on Pollutants, Noise and Safety

The main objective of this vision paper is to present the project “DICA-VE: Driving Information in a Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Environment: Impacts on Safety and Emissions”, which aims to develop an integrated methodology to assess driving behavior volatility and develop warnings to reduce road conflicts and pollutants/noise emissions in a vehicle environment. A particular attention will be given to the interaction of motor vehicles with vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists). The essence of assessing driving volatility aims the capture of the existence of strong accelerations and aggressive maneuvers. A fundamental understanding of instantaneous driving decisions (through a deep characterization of individual driver decision mechanisms, distinguishing normal from anomalous) is needed to develop a framework for optimizing these impacts. Thus, the research questions are: 1) Which strategies are adopted by each driver when he/she performs short-term driving decisions and how can these intentions be mapped, in a certain road network?; 2) How is driver’s volatility affected by the proximity of other road users, namely pedestrians or cyclists?; 3) How can driving volatility information be integrated into a platform to alert road users about potential dangers in the road infrastructure and prevent the occurrence of crash situations?; 4) How can anomalous driving variability be reduced in autonomous cars, in order to prevent road crashes and have a performance with a minimum degree of emissions? This paper brings a literature review on this topic and an evaluation of methods that can be used to assess driving behavior patterns and their influence on road safety, pollutant and noise emissions.publishe

A study on vehicle Noise Emission Modelling: correlation with air pollutant emissions, impact of kinematic variables and critical hotspots

This work proposes a methodology suitable for analysing the sound power levels (Lw), and carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions along a travel, and consequentially assessing the related critical hotspots. The estimation of noise and pollutant emissions from six vehicles driven along three different routes (one National Road and two highways) was conducted, in combined way, through seven Noise Emissions Models (NEMs) and Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) methodology, respectively. The inputs required by the models (namely, vehicle speed and acceleration and road grade) were extrapolated from On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system and Global Positioning System (GPS) data recorded during monitoring campaigns. The specificities of each model were analysed, and the role played by the kinematic variables in noise and exhaust emissions assessment was highlighted. Results show that all the tested NEMs estimated higher noise levels on the highways, while VSP predicted higher emissions on the National Road. This happens because speed is the main input variable in NEMs, while acceleration has an impact on noise estimation in the low-speed range (below 50 km/h). For pollutant emissions evaluation, acceleration plays a fundamental role also at high-speed range, where a transition from a cruising condition to an acceleration phase leads to significant variations in terms of VSP values. Lw values, estimated with NEMs that use acceleration correction terms, present positive moderate-to-high correlation with VSP ones. Moreover, the models that neglect acceleration in noise estimation fail to recognize traffic control treatments as critical hotspots.A. Pascale acknowledges the support of FCT for the Scholarship 2020.05106.BD.publishe

The patient-physician relationship in the face of oncological disease: A review of literature on the emotional and psychological reactions of patients and physician

The physician-patient relationship is daily destabilized by emotional reactions and psychic defenses that cancer arises in the two partners. Continued scientific and technological progresses which were reached by medicine in recent years, and particularly oncologic clinical discoveries, increased the chance of not only survival but also healing. Nevertheless, cancer diagnosis is still a hard existential text that destabilizes everyday life, all the psychic and relational balance, inevitably causing a psychological and social change not only in the patient who is affected but also into the wide social network around him (family, friends, doctors, healthcare team). The aim of this review is to understand how problems, feelings, emotions, distresses or defense mechanisms could garble the relation and the communication dynamics between physician and patients and then prejudicing the efficacy of oncologic therapeutic compliance. Pubmed and Scopus were searched, using strings related to "cancer", "physician-patient relations", burn-out", "compliance", and "communication", identifying literature published from 2000 to January 2015. Extracted papers were assessed for their relevance (10 of 412 papers initially reviewed). Results indicate that a good and empathetic relationship between physician and patient were related to good therapeutic adherence. In particular, a good physician-patient relation maximizes the impact of clinical therapies and reduces psychophysical implications

Working with children who are victims of abuse: Emotions and representations of professionals in residential children's communities

Professionals who work in residential children's communities face many difficulties and, when the hosted children have a history of abuse and maltreatment, the risk of vicarious traumatization and professional burn-out, which has a negative effect on the professional's work and well-being as well as on the effectiveness at work, is very high. This qualitative study aims to explore, via the content analysis of text recorded in some Photolangage® groups, the representations of social workers and educators in residential children's communities on the theme of work management of physical and sexual abuse victims. The participants were 37 social workers from 6 residential communities for 0-6 years old child in the region of Palermo (Italy). The analysis of the discourse revealed four main themes: "emotional responses", "difficulty in coping with emotions related to abuse", "relationship with the institutional network" and "work methods/strategies", which seem to guide and inform the social workers in our daily relationship with children. These results, which are in line with clinical observations, indicate the importance of supporting, through tools such as supervision and analysis of professional practices, professionals who work with maltreated and abused children, the only way to protect their well-being and the "therapeutic role" in the care and protection of children which they fulfil

AzeR, a transcriptional regulator that responds to azelaic acid in Pseudomonas nitroreducens

This is the final version. Available on open access from the Microbiology Society via the DOI in this recordAzelaic acid is a dicarboxylic acid that has recently been shown to play a role in plant-bacteria signalling and also occurs naturally in several cereals. Several bacteria have been reported to be able to utilize azelaic acid as a unique source of carbon and energy, including Pseudomonas nitroreducens. In this study, we utilize P. nitroreducens as a model organism to study bacterial degradation of and response to azelaic acid. We report genetic evidence of azelaic acid degradation and the identification of a transcriptional regulator that responds to azelaic acid in P. nitroreducens DSM 9128. Three mutants possessing transposons in genes of an acyl-CoA ligase, an acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and an isocitrate lyase display a deficient ability in growing in azelaic acid. Studies on transcriptional regulation of these genes resulted in the identification of an IclR family repressor that we designated as AzeR, which specifically responds to azelaic acid. A bioinformatics survey reveals that AzeR is confined to a few proteobacterial genera that are likely to be able to degrade and utilize azelaic acid as the sole source of carbon and energy