MEMS-based Inertial Navigation Systems onboard Balloons

Performances of low-cost inertial navigation sensors, usually poor, can often match different mission requirements by means of a careful signal and data processing and/or an augmentation by means of different observables. The paper presents the LOWCOINS navigation experiment, intended to fly onboard BEXUS balloon mission in late 2008. LOWCOINS has as the main component a low-cost three-axes inertial unit, integrating three accelerometers and three gyros. The slow dynamic typical of a balloon flight is deemed as an ideal test to verify the performances of the unit and to improve the knowledge on the data processing needed to obtain an accurate final navigation solution. In order to enlarge the set of available data, a cluster of magnetometers and a pressure sensor, always belonging to low-cost instrumentation range, are hosted on board. Measurements are both stored on board and downlinked to a ground station. Position and velocity components (both the onboard computed first guess and the post-flight calibrated solution) will be compared with the data gathered by a GPS receiver, which is a standard component of BEXUS balloon avionics. Substantial attention to thermal aspects has been requested in order to cope with environmental conditions prior of and all along the flight. The requested navigation unit case design is shortly reported

Does lung ultrasound have a role in the clinical management of pregnant women with SARS COV2 infection?

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a major health threat. Pregnancy can lead to an increased susceptibility to viral infections. Although chest computed tomography (CT) represents the gold standard for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, lung ultrasound (LUS) could be a valid alternative in pregnancy. The objectives of this prospective study were to assess the role of LUS in the diagnosis of lung involvement and in helping the physicians in the management of affected patients. Thirty pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection were admitted at the obstetrical ward of our Hospital. Mean age was 31.2 years, mean gestational age 33.8 weeks. Several LUS were performed during hospitalization. The management of the patients was decided according to the LUS score and the clinical conditions. Mean gestational age at delivery was at 37.7 weeks, preterm birth was induced in 20% of cases for a worsening of the clinical conditions. No neonatal complications occurred. In 9 cases with a high LUS score, a chest CT was performed after delivery. CT confirmed the results of LUS, showing a significant positive correlation between the two techniques. LUS seems a safe alternative to CT in pregnancy and may help in the management of these patient

Risk factors associated with adverse fetal outcomes in pregnancies affected by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a secondary analysis of the WAPM study on COVID-19.

Objectives To evaluate the strength of association between maternal and pregnancy characteristics and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Methods Secondary analysis of a multinational, cohort study on all consecutive pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020 from 73 centers from 22 different countries. A confirmed case of COVID-19 was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite adverse fetal outcome, defined as the presence of either abortion (pregnancy loss before 22 weeks of gestations), stillbirth (intrauterine fetal death after 22 weeks of gestation), neonatal death (death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), and perinatal death (either stillbirth or neonatal death). Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate parameters independently associated with the primary outcome. Logistic regression was reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 30.6+/-9.5 weeks, with 8.0% of women being diagnosed in the first, 22.2% in the second and 69.8% in the third trimester of pregnancy. There were six miscarriage (2.3%), six intrauterine device (IUD) (2.3) and 5 (2.0%) neonatal deaths, with an overall rate of perinatal death of 4.2% (11/265), thus resulting into 17 cases experiencing and 226 not experiencing composite adverse fetal outcome. Neither stillbirths nor neonatal deaths had congenital anomalies found at antenatal or postnatal evaluation. Furthermore, none of the cases experiencing IUD had signs of impending demise at arterial or venous Doppler. Neonatal deaths were all considered as prematurity-related adverse events. Of the 250 live-born neonates, one (0.4%) was found positive at RT-PCR pharyngeal swabs performed after delivery. The mother was tested positive during the third trimester of pregnancy. The newborn was asymptomatic and had negative RT-PCR test after 14 days of life. At logistic regression analysis, gestational age at diagnosis (OR: 0.85, 95% CI 0.8-0.9 per week increase; pPeer reviewe

Urbanistica, mobilità e trasporto pubblico locale

Il territorio italiano si è notevolmente modificato soprattutto negli ultimi sessant’anni. Oggi, il fenomeno della metropolizzazione ha mutato il sistema insediativo italiano, ampliando ulteriormente l’occupazione di nuovo suolo extraurbano rispetto alla “città diffusa” degli anni Novanta. La città metropolizzata assume una dimensione che supera i confini amministrativi e indica anche un radicale cambiamento degli stili di vita degli abitanti. Nel territorio metropolizzato, infatti, uno dei fenomeni più allarmanti riguarda proprio la quantità e la qualità degli spostamenti che la popolazione quotidianamente effettua. Nel territorio e con il territorio, nei decenni si è fortemente modificata la mobilità fino a divenire un sistema prevalentemente basato sulla rete infrastrutturale su gomma. Un modello di sviluppo privo di gerarchie e ordinamento fortemente causato dalla netta mancanza di trasporto pubblico. Tale lacuna del sistema trasportistico italiano ha dipeso essenzialmente da una serie di scelte politiche nazionali e locali che fin dal primo dopoguerra hanno privilegiato il rafforzamento di una mobilità individuale a sfavore di opere infrastrutturali per gli spostamenti collettivi che necessitavano di ingenti investimenti pubblici. La mancanza di una rete capillare di trasporto pubblico ha generato nel tempo una situazione insostenibile sia dal punto di vista ambientale che di quello insediativo curabile solo attraverso la creazione di un sistema dio mobilità di massa basata su un sistema di trasporto su ferro. Se le città europee sono cresciute, a partire dalla rivoluzione industriale, con un rapporto strettissimo con le ferrovie; per il caso italiano si può parlare di una “anomalia genetica” in quanto esse si sono prima sviluppate ed espanse e poi, in maniera del tutto subalterna, hanno tentato di dare rimedio a una situazione insostenibile anche grazie alla costruzione di piani urbanistici che mettessero al centro la questione della mobilità