Available Technologies and Commercial Devices to Harvest Energy by Human Trampling in Smart Flooring Systems: a Review

Technological innovation has increased the global demand for electrical power and energy. Accordingly, energy harvesting has become a research area of primary interest for the scientific community and companies because it constitutes a sustainable way to collect energy from various sources. In particular, kinetic energy generated from human walking or vehicle movements on smart energy floors represents a promising research topic. This paper aims to analyze the state-of-art of smart energy harvesting floors to determine the best solution to feed a lighting system and charging columns. In particular, the fundamentals of the main harvesting mechanisms applicable in this field (i.e., piezoelectric, electromagnetic, triboelectric, and relative hybrids) are discussed. Moreover, an overview of scientific works related to energy harvesting floors is presented, focusing on the architectures of the developed tiles, the transduction mechanism, and the output performances. Finally, a survey of the commercial energy harvesting floors proposed by companies and startups is reported. From the carried-out analysis, we concluded that the piezoelectric transduction mechanism represents the optimal solution for designing smart energy floors, given their compactness, high efficiency, and absence of moving parts

Sero-Epidemiological Study of Bordetella pertussis Infection in the Italian General Population

A multicenter study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of pertussis IgG antibodies (anti-PTx) in the Italian population. Serum samples (4154) collected in the years 2019-2020 from subjects aged 6 to 90 years were tested. The anti-PTx IgG levels were determined by ELISA test. The limit of detection was 5 IU/mL (International Units per milliliter); values >= 40 IU/mL and >= 100 IU/mL indicate an infection that has occurred in recent years and a recent infection (occurred during the last year), respectively. The mean concentration of anti-PTx IgG antibodies in the tested samples was 13 IU/mL; 1.0% of subjects had a titer >= 100 IU/mL, 5.3% a titer between 40 and 100 IU/mL, and 38.9% a titer < 5 IU/mL. The mean antibody concentration was significantly higher in males than in females. The age group 25-39 years had the lowest percentage of negative subjects (36.9%) and the highest prevalence of subjects with antibody titers >= 100 IU/mL (1.3%). In the age group >= 65 years, the prevalence of subjects with titers between 40 and 100 IU/mL (6.7%) and the percentage of negative subjects (44.8%) was higher than in the other age groups. The results highlight the possible role of adolescents and adults in the transmission of B. pertussis

Lifestyles and socio-cultural factors among children aged 6-8 years from five Italian towns: The MAPEC-LIFE study cohort

Background: Lifestyles profoundly determine the quality of an individual’s health and life since his childhood. Many diseases in adulthood are avoidable if health-risk behaviors are identified and improved at an early stage of life. The aim of the present research was to characterize a cohort of children aged 6–8 years selected in order to perform an epidemiological molecular study (the MAPEC_LIFE study), investigate lifestyles of the children that could have effect on their health status, and assess possible association between lifestyles and socio-cultural factors. Methods: A questionnaire composed of 148 questions was administered in two different seasons to parents of children attending 18 primary schools in five Italian cities (Torino, Brescia, Pisa, Perugia and Lecce) to obtain information regarding the criteria for exclusion from the study, demographic, anthropometric and health information on the children, as well as some aspects on their lifestyles and parental characteristics. The results were analyzed in order to assess the frequency of specific conditions among the different seasons and cities and the association between lifestyles and socio-economic factors. Results: The final cohort was composed of 1,164 children (50.9 boys, 95.4% born in Italy). Frequency of some factors appeared different in terms of the survey season (physical activity in the open air, the ways of cooking certain foods) and among the various cities (parents’ level of education and rate of employment, sport, traffic near the home, type of heating, exposure to passive smoking, ways of cooking certain foods). Exposure to passive smoking and cooking fumes, obesity, residence in areas with heavy traffic, frequency of outdoor play and consumption of barbecued and fried foods were higher among children living in families with low educational and/or occupational level while children doing sports and consuming toasted bread were more frequent in families with high socio-economic level. Conclusions: The socio-economic level seems to affect the lifestyles of children enrolled in the study including those that could cause health effects. Many factors are linked to the geographical area and may depend on environmental, cultural and social aspects of the city of residence

Il complesso vanvitelliano di Caserta. Un unicum parzialmente celato

Per il Palazzo Reale di Caserta Carlo III di Borbone ebbe progetti ambiziosi: realizzare una città della corte, dei ministeri e delle alte istituzioni della cultura e di giustizia, che contenesse una università, una biblioteca, la magistrtura, un teatro, un seminario ed una cattedrale. Il progetto e la realizzazione del complesso venne affidato a Luigi Vanvitelli ed il risultato è un inscindibile connubio scenografico di spazi architettonici e spazi naturali in un rapporto di reciproca convivenza. Ma ciò che è ancora più grandioso è quello che celatamente da vita a tutti gli spazi: la canalizzazione delle acque. E' quindi auspicabile che si possa attuare un progetto di tutela, valorizzazione fruzione , quanto mai urgente sul complesso inteso nella sua totalità

A style between two centurie.The great hall of the faculty of architecture of Rome

The proclamation of Rome as the capital of Italy marked the starting point for an impressive urban development. The city, included within the Aurelian Walls, seemed to turn into a shipyard for the construction of several buildings linked to the function of a capital while neighborhoods for new social classes were being made to crown around the Old Town. It was, therefore, to create a dichotomy in the architecture of Rome for which public buildings, full of symbols, were represented by an eclecticism sometimes oversized, while private houses absorbed the traits of the modern architecture that already had spread across the Alps and into Italy took the name of Liberty. Hampered by the cultural climate, extremely closed towards European art, the architects gradually introduced the new style that, however, in Rome never reached the inspiring models. The fusion of the new trends with the constructive tradition gave rise to a particular architectural language recognizable in several buildings of the time. Among them deserves attention, the restructuring carried out in the first thirty years of the '900, in what is now the Great Hall of the building of the Faculty of Architecture in Piazza Borghese: an interesting solution that, even in its small size, contains the own characters of the architecture of the period bringing out the contrast between the linearity of Art Nouveau and the character of fortress attributed to specific architectural elements

Gli interventi architettonici del primo periodo sabaudo nella nuova capitale / The architectural changes in the new capital of the Savoy period

La proclamazione dell'Unità d'Italia e la designazione di Roma a Capitale furono all'origine di profonde trasformazioni. Da una parte il progetto per la nuova capitale del Regno d'Italia coagulò i concetti di miglioramento, espansione e abbellimento propri della cultura urbanistica ottocentesca, dall'altra il disegno urbanistico sociale del nuovo corso, manifestarono la volontà "politica" di imprimere un drastico cambiamento ai relativi tessuti stratificatisi attraverso l'unicità di una storia plurimillenaria.The proclamtion of the unification of Italy and the appointment of Rome Capital were the origin of profoundchange. On the one hand the project for the new capital of the Kingdom of Italy coagulated concepts for improvement, enlargement and beautification of the nineteenth-century urban culture, the other the urban design and of course the new social progress, clearly manifested the will "policy" imparting a dramatic change to its stratified tissues through the uniqueness of an ancient history

Has VZV epidemiology changed in Italy? Results of a seroprevalence study

The aim of the study was to evaluate if and how varicella prevalence has changed in Italy. In particular a seroprevalence study was performed, comparing it to similar surveys conducted in pre-immunization era. During 2013–2014, sera obtained from blood samples taken for diagnostic purposes or routine investigations were collected in collaboration with at least one laboratory/center for each region, following the approval of the Ethics Committee. Data were stratified by sex and age. All samples were processed in a national reference laboratory by an immunoassay with high sensitivity and specificity. Statutory notifications, national hospital discharge database and mortality data related to VZV infection were analyzed as well. A total of 3707 sera were collected and tested. In the studied period both incidence and hospitalization rates decreased and about 5 deaths per year have been registered. The seroprevalence decreased in the first year of life in subjects passively protected by their mother, followed by an increase in the following age classes. The overall antibody prevalence was 84%. The comparison with surveys conducted with the same methodology in 1996–1997 and 2003–2004 showed significant differences in age groups 1–19 y. The study confirms that in Italy VZV infection typically occurs in children. The impact of varicella on Italian population is changing. The comparison between studies performed in different periods shows a significant increase of seropositivity in age class 1–4 years, expression of vaccine interventions already adopted in some regions