Parental trust and beliefs after the discovery of a six-year-long failure to vaccinate

Background: In Italy vaccine hesitancy worsened after a failure to vaccinate episode that took place in Friuli Venezia-Giulia Region until early 2017 which undermined herd immunity by leaving unprotected more than 5,444 children. Methods: Between May and June 2017, 2,557 parents were surveyed at the local vaccination clinic where they were invited within the subsequent extraordinary vaccination campaign. The aim of the survey was to evaluate whether the multi-channel extraordinary vaccination campaign had reached the target population and to know parental beliefs and trusted sources of information after the failure to vaccinate event. Results: While 279 parents were non-hesitant (10.9%) and 1,491 hesitant acceptors (58.3%), just 38 (1.5%) refused to have their children revaccinated. Overall, the most consulted sources of information were print media (18.8%), physicians (16.0%), relatives and friends (12.1%). The majority of parents considered vaccination as a fundamental practice (73.9%), but many were worried about potential side effects (38.8%) or doubtful about the effectiveness of some vaccines (11.0%). According to parents, 19.7% of them (57) changed their opinion about vaccines after the Codroipo case. Conclusions: After the Codroipo case, most parents chose to have their children re-vaccinated and just a little proportion refused the re-administration of vaccines. More studies are needed to confirm the importance of a coherent multi-channel communication strategy using both traditional and new media in order to counteract vaccine hesitancy

Managing unexpected failure in vaccination coverage:2017 extraordinary vaccination campaign in Italy

Issue: On April 20th, 2017 an alert was issued by Veneto Region and forwarded to the Local Health Agency n.3 (AAS3) of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. It stated that a nurse, in charge of vaccine administration in both regions, allegedly pretended to inoculate vaccines during 2009-2015, thus exposing several cohorts of children to vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) outbreaks. We report what done by AAS3 to cope with such an unexpected and potentially risky situation. Description: A task force including experts in pediatrics, public health, immunology and infectious diseases as well as citizens and AAS3 area Majors\u2019 delegates was created. Preliminary laboratory results from a sample of 200 children confirmed the lack of VDPs coverage and prompted the task force to rearrange resources for an extraordinary vaccination plan aimed to re-administer 20441 vaccine doses to 5444 children. They were distinguished according to the number of vaccine doses received from that nurse: every (high risk) or just one (low risk). Consistently with this, information release and families\u2019 reassurance were organized and managed through ad-hoc channels: a toll free number, an email address and Whatsapp chats. Results: The high risk group included 2406 children (44%), 3038 being at low risk (56%). AAS3 invited parents to have their children re-vaccinated by phone (2249 answers) and by mail (4402 letters delivered), starting on May 2nd, 2017. 26 alternative vaccination schedules have been created and 11303 vaccines doses (55%) have been administered until the end of January 2018, for a total of 6644 outpatient consultations. Vaccinations are still ongoing. Lessons: The creation of the task force allowed AAS3 to cope with such an undesired situation in a quick and coherent manner. Actions implemented consistently by all stakeholders after the alert allowed an effective public health response, enabling AAS3 to recover more than 50% of missing vaccines in 9 months, in addition to routine activity. Key messages: The engagement of all stakeholders from the start is a fundamental step in dealing with both ordinary and extraordinary public health issues. The long-term effects on children vaccine coverage and herd immunity require a continuous monitoring of the extraordinary vaccination plan implementation

Switched Tank Converter: Quasi-Resonant Regulation for Soft Start and Mismatch Mitigation Technique

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the power consumption of data centers. As a result, server rack architecture has shifted from using 12 V to higher voltage levels of 48–60 V. The conventional power delivery system in use involves two stages of dc–dc conversion, utilizing an unregulated first-stage converter followed by a regulated converter. Among the first-stage converter topologies, the 4-to-1 switched tank converter (STC) is highly employed due to its high efficiency and power density. However, the STC has the drawback of generating a large inrush current during the startup phase. To address this issue, typically an auxiliary element such as a buck converter, a hot-swap controller, or an eFuse is employed. Additionally, achieving the zero-current switching condition in both resonant tanks is challenging when a mismatch in the resonant frequencies is considered. This article proposes a novel control technique to mitigate the large inrush that does not involve the use of any additional element, boosting the power density. It also presents a strategy to minimize the mismatch in the resonant frequencies in an STC. The experimental results obtained from a 600-W prototype validate the effectiveness of these approaches

Quasi-regulation and mismatch mitigation technique for switched tank converters

Data center power consumption has been increasing remarkably in the last decades, mainly due to the massive adoption of cloud computing. Due to the vast amount of power consumed, server rack architecture has switched from 12 V to (48 V – 60 V). The commonly used power delivery system employs two stages of DC-DC conversion, cascading an unregulated first-stage converter and a regulated one. The 4-to-1 switched tank converter (STC) is one of the main topologies used as a first stage thanks to its very high efficiency and power density. However, a limitation of the STC is its large inrush current during the startup phase. To avoid this, usually the converter is preceded by a DC-DC converter, a hot-swap controller or an eFuse. Moreover, ensuring the zero current switching condition in both resonant tanks is not straightforward in presence of a mismatch between the resonant frequencies. In this paper, a novel control technique that avoids a large inrush current at startup without the usage of an auxiliary converter and a strategy to minimize the mismatch in the resonant frequencies are proposed for the STC. Experimental results for a 600 W prototype show the validity of these approaches

Combined control and navigation approach to the robotic capture of space vehicles

The potentialities of In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) to extend the operational life of satellites and the need to implement Active Debris Removal (ADR) to effectively tackle the space debris problem are well known among the space community. Research on technical solutions to enable this class of missions is thriving, also pushed by the development of new generation sensors and control systems. Among private companies, space agencies and universities, the European Space Agency (ESA) has been developing technologies in this field for decades. Several solutions have been proposed over the years to safely capture orbital objects, the majority relying on robotic systems. A promising option is the employment of an autonomous spacecraft (chaser) equipped with a highly dexterous robotic arm able to perform the berthing with a resident space object. This operation poses complex technical challenges both during the approach phase and after contact. In this respect, the design of an effective, reliable, and robust Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) system, for which several algorithmic architectures and hardware configurations are possible, plays a key role to ensure safe mission execution. This work presents the outcomes of a research activity performed by a consortium of universities under contract with ESA with the goal to develop the navigation and control subsystems of a GNC system for controlling a chaser equipped with a redundant manipulator. Both the final approach until capture and the target stabilization phase after capture are considered in the study. The proposed solution aims at the implementation of a combined control strategy. Robust control methods are adopted to design control laws for the uncertain, nonlinear dynamics of the chaser and of the complete chaser–target stack after capture. Visual–based solutions, i.e., relying on active/passive electro– optical sensors, are selected for relative navigation. A complete sensor suite for relative and absolute navigation is part of the GNC system, including transducers for robot joint measurements. To properly validate the proposed solutions, a complete numerical simulator has been developed. This software tool allows to thoroughly assess the system performance, accounting for all the relevant external disturbances and error sources. A realistic synthetic image generator is also used for relative navigation performance assessment. This paper presents the design solutions and the results of preliminary numerical testing, considering three mission scenarios to prove the flexibility of the solution and its applicability to a wide range of operational cases

The ENERGY ECS Project: Smart and Secure Energy Solutions for Future Mobility

Electric and smart mobility are key enablers for their green energy transition. However, the electrification of vehicles poses several challenges, from the development of power components to the organization of the electric grid system. Moreover, it is expected that the smartification of mobility via sensors and novel transport paradigms will play an essential role in the reduction of the consumed energy. In response to these challenges and expectations, the ENERGY ECS project is pursuing smart and secure energy solutions for the mobility of the future, by developing power components, battery charging electronics, and self-powered sensors for condition monitoring, along with advanced techniques for grid management, applications of artificial intelligence, machine learning and immersing technologies. This paper presents the project’s objectives and reports intermediate results from the perspective of the targeted use cases