Joint Use of On-board Reconfigurable Antenna Pattern and Adaptive Coding and Modulation in Satellite Communications at High Frequency Bands

The Telecommunication market is driven by the increasing need of the end users for multimedia services which require high data rates. Within the fixed satellite service, frequency bandwidths wide enough to carry such high data rates are to be found in Ka band (26-40 GHz), and Q/V bands (40-50 GHz). However, at Ka band and above, transmitted signals can be severely affected by tropospheric attenuation for substantial percentages of time, resulting in the degradation of the quality and of the availability of communication services. Fade Mitigation Techniques (FMTs) must be used to counteract these severe propagation impairments. In this thesis we explore the joint use of two of the most promising techniques, known as Reconfigurable Antenna and Adaptive Coding and Modulation, which up to now has been separately developed. Some of our accomplishments include, but are not limited to: a methodology to describe rain attenuation conditions for multiple users in large geographical areas, a tractable framework for the generation of correlated time series of rain attenuation for multiple receiving stations, the comparison of performance between fixed antenna systems and Reconfigurable Antenna system coupled with Adaptive Coding and Modulation

Cross-Layer Optimization of Network Performance over MIMO Wireless Mobile Channels

In the information theory, the channel capacity states the maximum amount of information which can be reliably transmitted over the communication channel. In the specific case of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems, it is well recognized that the instantaneous capacity of MIMO systems is a random Gaussian process. Time variation of the capacity leads to the outages at instances when it falls below the transmission rate. The frequency of such events is known as outage probability. The cross-layer approach proposed in this work focuses on the effects of MIMO capacity outages on the network performance, providing a joint optimization of the MIMO communication system. For a constant rate transmission, the outage probability sensibly affects the amount of information correctly received at destination. Theoretically, the limit of the ergodic capacity in MIMO time-variant channels can be achieved by adapting the transmission rate to the capacity variation. With an accurate channel state information, the capacity evolution can be predicted by a suitable autoregressive model based on the capacity time correlation. Taking into consideration the joint effects of channel outage at the physical layer and buffer overflow at the medium access control (MAC) layer, the optimal transmission strategy is derived analytically through the Markov decision processes (MDP) theory. The adaptive policy obtained by MDP is optimal and maximizes the amount of information correctly received at the destination MAC layer (throughput of the system). Analytical results demonstrate the significant improvements of the optimal variable rate strategy compared to a constant transmission rate strategy, in terms of both system throughput and probability of data loss

Preventing and treating problem gamblers in Italy: the first Italian National Helpline

Gambling has become a public health issue, implying not just the suffering of problems by an individual and their families, but also involving economic and social costs. As already recognized by many authors, it is important to provide opportunities for differentiated preventions and treatments, not only as to methods, types of care, and counselling, but also in regard to settings, availability in time, and means of access. Acknowledging these findings, the first Italian National Helpline for Problem Gambling was established in October 2009. Out of concern for severe adverse psychosocial consequences and prevalence rates of problem gambling, the Italian Federation of Workers of the Departments and Services Addiction (FeDerSerD) initiated and then managed the gambling helpline and website service Giocaresponsabile financially supported by gaming operators. This service offers remote access to counselling and therapy in order to help treat problem gamblers who do not typically seek help from other addiction services. Compared to traditional therapeutic settings, this online approach presents several advantages: accessibility, anonymity, treatment flexibility, less time constraints, no geographical barriers, and public health cost reduction. The Italian experience shows that the financial support given by various gambling operators provides valuable services to those affected by problem gambling and that other gambling companies operating in other jurisdictions should financially support such initiatives given the benefits that such services bring to both problem gamblers and their families. This paper is an overview of the first five years of Giocaresponsabile activity

Cloud effective transmittance at two sites of the Atacama Desert, Chile

Broadband overcast cloud effective transmittance was determined at Arica (18.47S, 70.31°W, 20 m above sea level (asl)) and Poconchile (18.45°S, 70.07°W, 560 m asl), Atacama Desert, northern Chile, from 10 min averaged pyranometer measurements of total solar irradiance (ToSI) and ultraviolet solar irradiance (UVSI) during the period 2002-2005. The predominant cloud type is marine stratocumulus, characteristic of the southeastern Pacific tropical environment. The region's very regular climate conditions, characterized by overcast mornings and cloudless afternoons, allow the application of an empirical method to determine the expected clear-sky irradiance during cloudy mornings. The cloud effective transmittance (CET) is determined as the ratio of the measured cloudy-sky irradiance over the expected clear-sky irradiance. CETTo = 0.26 (0.31) for ToSI and CETUV = 0.37 (0.43) for UVSI characterize overcast cloudiness at Arica (Poconchile). One-dimensional radiative transfer model calculations in both ToSI and UVSI ranges are also used. The measured and modeled relationships between CETTo and CETUV closely agree. New insights are given to explain the sparsely populated data around CET = 0.8 observed also by other similar studies.Fil: Luccini, Eduardo Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Facultad de Química e Ingeniería-Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Rivas, Miguel. Universidad de Tarapacá; ChileFil: Rojas, Elisa. Universidad de Tarapacá; ChileFil: Canziani, Pablo Osvaldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Secretaría Académica. Dirección de Investigaciones. Equipo Estudios de Procesos Atmosféricos en el Cambio Global; Argentin

Flooded-area satellite monitoring within a Ramsar wetland Nature Reserve in Argentina

The protection and restoration of water-related ecosystems is one of the goals to be achieved by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this framework and requested by government Argentine institutions concerned with water, biodiversity and territorial management, this study analyzes the evolution of the flooded area within the Dulce River wetlands and Mar Chiquita Lake Nature Reserve (centered around 30.6°S, 62.6°W, 70 m above sea level) in Argentina since 2003, when the historical maximum extent was reached, until 2017. The Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) was calculated on atmospherically corrected NASA Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (L5-TM) and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (L8-OLI) reflectance data over two-scene cloudless-sky mosaics to cover the whole Reserve. Mixed-water pixels constituted an important fraction of the total-water covered area, particularly during years of minimum water level in Mar Chiquita Lake. So, MNDWI values were analyzed along transects crossing two stable regional water bodies to determine precise thresholds for detection of non-water (MNDWI < −0.15 for L5-TM, MNDWI < −0.35 for L8-OLI), mixed-water (−0.15 < MNDWI < 0.4 for L5-TM, −0.35 < MNDWI < 0.5 for L8-OLI) and open-water (0.4 < MNDWI for L5-TM, 0.5 < MNDWI for L8-OLI) pixels. A higher spatial resolution image, SPOT5-HGR2, was used to validate the classification method. A confusion matrix was built which resulted in an overall accuracy of 99.2% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.98. In-situ Geo-referenced photographic registers were also taken simultaneously to a Landsat 8 overpass to confirm the classification thresholds. The analysis of simulated MNDWI response, by using the assumption of the linear mixture model, showed that mixed pixels should present from 9% to 76% of detectable open-water area. Maximum total flooded area extensions of about 3600 km 2 by 2003–2005 and a minimum one of 2050 km 2 by the end of 2011 were established, followed by a recent trend to the recovering with a total flooded area of about 3400 km 2 in the period 2015–2017. Open-water covered area follows closely the behavior of in-situ water level measurements of Mar Chiquita Lake, showing a maximum in year 2003 and a minimum towards the end of 2013, in a significant linear relation from which a topographical slope of the terrain of about 0.012% is inferred that agrees with previous bathymetric studies. Results show the powerful complement between a reliable water satellite monitoring tool and locally-measured parameters in so dynamic wetland regions.Fil: Ferral, Anabella. Universidad Blas Pascal; Argentina. Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Instituto de Altos Estudios Espaciales "Mario Gulich"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Luccini, Eduardo Alfredo. Provincia de Córdoba. Ministerio de Ciencia y Técnica. Centro de Excelencia en Productos y Procesos de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Aleksinkó, Alejandro. Secretaría de Recursos Hídricos y Coordinación de la Provincia de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Scavuzzo, Carlos Matias. Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Instituto de Altos Estudios Espaciales "Mario Gulich"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Strategie di updating per modelli inferenziali di qualita dei prodotti

L'introduzione di disturbi o variazioni di riferimento possono causare uno scostamento tra la misura e il set-point. A questo riguardo, si introduce il concetto di updating, termine con il quale si designa l'attitudine di uno stimatore a eliminare tale offset. L'obiettivo di questa tesi è analizzare e confrontare alcuni metodi di update industriali con quello sviluppato nella tesi, applicati ad un processo di distillazione multicomponent

High-Up: A Remote Reservoir of Microbial Extremophiles in Central Andean Wetlands

The Central Andes region displays unexplored ecosystems of shallow lakes and salt flats at mean altitudes of 3700 m. Being isolated and hostile, these so-called “High-Altitude Andean Lakes” (HAAL) are pristine and have been exposed to little human influence. HAAL proved to be a rich source of microbes showing interesting adaptations to life in extreme settings (poly-extremophiles) such as alkalinity, high concentrations of arsenic and dissolved salts, intense dryness, large daily ambient thermal amplitude, and extreme solar radiation levels. This work reviews HAAL microbiodiversity, taking into account different microbial niches, such as plankton, benthos, microbial mats and microbialites. The modern stromatolites and other microbialites discovered recently at HAAL are highlighted, as they provide unique modern—though quite imperfect—analogs of environments proxy for an earlier time in Earth's history (volcanic setting and profuse hydrothermal activity, low atmospheric O2 pressure, thin ozone layer and high UV exposure). Likewise, we stress the importance of HAAL microbes as model poly-extremophiles in the study of the molecular mechanisms underlying their resistance ability against UV and toxic or deleterious chemicals using genome mining and functional genomics. In future research directions, it will be necessary to exploit the full potential of HAAL poly-extremophiles in terms of their biotechnological applications. Current projects heading this way have yielded detailed molecular information and functional proof on novel extremoenzymes: i.e., DNA repair enzymes and arsenic efflux pumps for which medical and bioremediation applications, respectively, are envisaged. But still, much effort is required to unravel novel functions for this and other molecules that dwell in a unique biological treasure despite its being hidden high up, in the remote Andes.Fil: Albarracín, Virginia Helena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; ArgentinaFil: Kurth, Daniel German. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; ArgentinaFil: Ordoñez, Omar Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; ArgentinaFil: Belfiore, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; ArgentinaFil: Luccini, Eduardo Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Facultad de Química e Ingeniería-Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Salum, Graciela Marisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Piacentini, Ruben Dario Narciso. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Concepción del Uruguay; ArgentinaFil: Farias, Maria Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiologicos; Argentin

Milestone M5.8 KRSM first cycle prototype evaluation plan

This plan will be constantly updated and expanded in line with the planned software development activities related to the KRSM component of the TENCompetence infrastructure.This report provides a detailed plan for experimentation and evaluation of the KRSM prototype.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Avoidable blindness and value based healthcare: more value with a population approach

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Intercomparación de radiómetros UV eritémicos

Fil: Nollas, Fernando Martín. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Gerencia de Investigación, Desarrollo y Capacitación. Departamento de Vigilancia de la Atmósfera y Geofísica; Argentina.Fil: Luccini, Eduardo Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Ciencia y Técnica. Centro de Excelencia en Productos y Procesos de Córdoba; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Santa María de los Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Carbajal Benítez, Gerardo. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Gerencia de Investigación, Desarrollo y Capacitación. Departamento de Vigilancia de la Atmósfera y Geofísica; Argentina.Fil: Wolfram, Elian Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; Argentina.Para asegurar calidad en los datos de radiación solar ultravioleta (UV) los sensores que miden este parámetro deben ser calibrados regularmente contra uno o más sensores patrones, que deben tener trazabilidad con el Centro Mundial de Radiación (PMOD/WRC) de Davos. De esta manera los datos obtenidos en los sitios de medición estarán estandarizados y serán comparables a nivel local y global. En este trabajo se presentan los antecedentes, procedimientos y resultados de la intercomparación de sensores UV eritémicos llevada a cabo en el Observatorio Central de Buenos Aires entre los meses de febrero y junio de 2018. En la misma se obtuvo el factor de calibración de 20 sensores pertenecientes a diferentes instituciones operativas y de investigación del país y la incerteza relativa asociada de cada uno de los sensores participantes hallando diferencias que alcanzan el 42% respecto de su última calibración.To ensure quality in the ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation data, sensors that measure this parameter must be calibrated regularly against one or more standard sensors, which must have traceability with the World Radiation Center (PMOD / WRC) in Davos. In this way, the data obtained at the measurement sites will be standardized and will be comparable locally and globally. Background information, procedures and results of the inter-comparison of erythemic UV sensors carried out in the Central Observatory of Buenos Aires between the months of February and June of 2018 are presented in this work. The calibration factor of 20 sensors was obtained, which belong to different operational and research institutions of the country, and the associated relative uncertainty of each of the participating sensors, finding differences that reach 42% with respect to their last calibration