A Hardware-in-the-Loop Evaluation of the Impact of the V2X Channel on the Traffic-Safety Versus Efficiency Trade-offs

Vehicles are increasingly becoming connected and short-range wireless communications promise to introduce a radical change in the drivers' behaviors. Among the main use cases, the intersection management is surely one of those that could mostly impact on both traffic safety and efficiency. In this work, we consider an intersection collision warning application and exploit an hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform to verify the impact on the risk of accidents as well as the average time to travel a given distance. Besides including real ITS-G5 compliant message exchanges, the platform also includes a channel emulator with real signals. Results show that the risk of collisions can be drastically reduced, with an overall trade-off between safety and traffic efficiency. At the same time, it is shown that the presence of real channel conditions cannot guarantee the same condition of zero-risk as with ideal channel propagation, remarking the importance of channel conditions and signal processing

Intrecci linguistici. Lingue e dialetti italiani tra i giovani italoamericani nella grande area di New York

Da quando furono introdotti dai primi immigrati che si insediarono sul suolo americano, la lingua e i dialetti italiani negli Stati Uniti si sono continuamente trasformati. Sui comportamenti linguistici degli emigrati italiani all\u2019estero incisero fattori di natura sociale, culturale, geografica ed economica, nonch\ue9 le diverse ondate migratorie. In particolare, nelle comunit\ue0 italoamericane, la lingua e i dialetti italiani andarono a comporre un continuum linguistico che si accompagn\uf2 all\u2019inglese secondo combinazioni diverse e con un variegato ventaglio di forme. Questo saggio si propone di ripercorrere le tappe che hanno segnato questi cambiamenti, analizzando alcune ricerche svolte a partire dagli anni Ottanta nonch\ue9 i dati della condizione in cui versa attualmente la lingua italiana negli Stati Uniti. Vengono, inoltre, presentati i risultati legati all\u2019uso della lingua e dei dialetti, frutto di una survey condotta nel 2013 su un campione di giovani italoamericani residenti nella grande area di New York. Nonostante le differenze tra le diverse generazioni d\u2019immigrazione dei giovani partecipanti allo studio, emerge come vi sia, soprattutto nelle nuove generazioni di italoamericani, una tendenza alla ripresa di interesse verso la lingua delle origini e i dialetti, espressa anche attraverso la volont\ue0 di trasmetterla ai propri figli

Il Cinema Europeo

This volume represents a notable attempt to synthesize the various artistic and production realities characterizing European cinematography from its earliest days to the end of the twentieth century, and is also an attempt to offer new interpretation methods for defining the very concept of \u2018European cinema\u2019. On the one hand, it elaborates a framework taking into account the various forces in play: cinema professionals, the production routine, artistic trends, technological advances, legislative contexts and market forces (Chapter 10, \u2018Pubblico, industrie e utopie\u2019, pp. 151-169), in an attempt to identify initiatives deployed to favour European cinematography as a whole. On the other, it traces the hidden currents through which European identity takes form through cinema or the work of critics, audiences, filmmakers and screenwriters (Chapter 9, \u2018Incontri, osmosi, simbiosi: Le coppie di autori\u2019, pp. 133-150). Particular attention is given to artistic expression betraying connotations of identity, such as those genres the volume calls \u2018autochthonous genres\u2019 (Chapter 6, \u2018Lo specchio del passato, lo spettro del presente: I generi \u201cautoctoni\u201d\u2019, pp. 82-99), as these give value to indigenous culture heritage and shared imaginary worlds. Another key point of definition is identified in the experimentalism that accompanies individual countries\u2019 cinema industries (Chapter 5, \u2018L\u2019onda del nuovo nel Vecchio Continente\u2019, pp. 64-81). Whatever path is chosen, American cinema represents an unavoidable dialectic term for European cinema in terms of both production and theory, and this reveals itself in the experiences of actors, critics and audiences (Chapter. 2, \u2018America, \u201camericano\u201d e americanate: Hollywood secondo gli europei\u2019, pp. 14-29)

Study of effectiveness of bronchial clearence in subjects with upper spinal cord injuries. Examination of a rehabilitation programme involving mechanical insufflation and exsufflation

Study design: this randomized controlled trial designed to establish the effectiveness of mechanical insufflation and exsufflation in post-tracheostomy subjects with upper spinal cord injuries (C1-C7), ASIA A classification and bronchial hypersecretion. Objectives: to establish whether the use of mechanical insufflation/exsufflation leads to a significant increase in the following parameters: FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEF, Pa O2, Pa CO2, pH, Sa O2. Setting: Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute, Imola, Italy Methods: The patients were split into two groups: the Experimental Group (EG) and the Control Group (CG). Each patient was given 10 treatments: the EG was given manual respiratory physiokinesitherapy associated with mechanical insufflation/exsufflation, while the CG was only given manual physiokinesitherapy. The treatment sessions covered the necessary amount of time in order to achieve sufficient clearance. Results: at the end of the treatment associated with the mechanical insufflation/exsufflation, the Experimental Group showed a significant increase in FVC, FEV1 and PEF, although it was not possible to compare the latter with the Control Group. The other parameters were also subject to variations, although not statistically significant. The Control Group did not show signs of any significant change. Conclusion: the use of mechanical insufflation/exsufflation in subjects with the aforementioned characteristics is shown to be an effective adjuvant to manual respiratory physiokinesitherapy, since it makes it possible to achieve adequate bronco-pulmonary clearance, even removing thick, deep secretions and making it possible to insufflate any areas affected by atelectasis